Christian Magicians Rise to Defend Themselves as Not Involved With the Occult

Christian Post ^ | July 16, 2013 | Alex Murashko

[Berosus]

I’m confused. What part of Africa did this story take place in?

[Cvengr]

There do exist some Buddhist monks in Tibet, who are so demonically possessed that they do indeed levitate.

FWIW, I don’t see how illusion could be used to advance Bible doctrine. Who would trust a magician, when it becomes apparent his intent has been to deceive his audience by chicanery or slight of hand?

Besides, the Miracles of Christ were far more impressive.

[Kip Russell]

There do exist some Buddhist monks in Tibet, who are so demonically possessed that they do indeed levitate

Um...seriously?

http://skepticalteacher.wordpress.com/2011/07/07/discovery-channels-the-supernaturalist-is-super-stupid/

Unfortunately, in Dan White’s quest to “find REAL magic” – and the Discovery Channel’s quest to continue catering to the lowest common denominator (remember their stupid ghost-hunting show?) – it seems that everyone involved has left their basic critical thinking skills at the door. For example, check out this footage of when Dan White “discovers” the levitating powers of the monk he has sought for so long…

The overly credulous nature of this clip, and how Dan White – the supposed skeptic – plays it up as legitimate (honest!) is downright pathetic. There are some very basic questions to ask regarding a scenario like this:

1. Why isn’t the filming done in one continuous shot? Note all the breaks in the clip between the time the monk sits down and when he “levitates”.

2. Why does the monk have to sit where he does, in front of a wall full of curtains that can easily obscure a device which can lift him?

3. Why doesn’t Dan White ask the obvious question as outlined in #2 above, instead of standing there looking like an idiot with his mouth agape?

4. Why doesn’t Dan White, our token “skeptic”, take a moment to simply walk over to the side to make sure there isn’t a mechanical arm or similar contraption connecting the monk to something behind the curtain. On a related note, why isn’t this camera angle shown?

A simple application of Occam’s Razor is all that is necessary to slice through what is very clearly a b******t display put together to get ratings. Folks, this is a big joke, and if anyone takes it seriously the only one’s laughing will be the executives at the Discovery Channel who are guffawing at having one over on gullible viewers. Fortunately, there is a silver lining: I have been inspired to incorporate this footage and a critical analysis of it into my upcoming talk at The Amaz!ng Meeting 9 in Las Vegas next week – it will make a good lesson for my students.

[Kip Russell]

I’m confused. What part of Africa did this story take place in?

Ha...Yes, one would hope that people in 21st Century Western Civilization would be a bit more inclined to view stage magicians as illusionists rather than masters of True Occult Power.

Unfortunately (in some cases) one hopes in vain.