‘Maze Magic’ promotes Christianity?
Opinion Monday, October 1st, 2007What on earth is wrong with the world we live in today?
A couple of weeks ago I attended the Maze Magic show in the Special Events Center in the Student Union Building. The show started out fantastically – it was a great magic show.
The two magicians on stage captivated the audience with ease, performing tricks that seemed impossible.
About an hour into the show, however, the two magicians started giving a speech about what it means to be a good person and a good society.
The magicians called a short intermission to allow for anyone in the audience who might be offended by their religious views to leave, but used the bait of another magic trick to keep people there.
The show started again and only a few people had left.
The first of the two to speak held up pictures of his daughter explaining daughters are meant to look like that.
Then, the magician held up a photograph of Lindsay Lohan posing in a provocative outfit on the cover of a popular magazine.
He explained, in this society, that is what daughters turn into.
To back himself up, he then held up a photograph of Lindsay Lohan when she was a young, innocent actress.
He flipped through the stack of photographs underneath, each of a female celebrity wearing a provocative outfit on the covers of different popular magazines.
The other magician then took to the stage and gave a speech about how a fellow college football player ended up in jail because of his bad life decisions.
What surprised me through all of this was that the people in the audience truly seemed to consider the magician’s words as important facts, almost as though they were brainwashed.
There were a good number of people, however, that did get up and bolt during the speech.
I’m not saying whether I agree or disagree with the Christian magicians’ opinions.
However, I think it is wrong for the magicians to draw such a large audience under the illusion of a magic show to promote Christianity.
Why, I must ask, does Boise State University allow for a night of entertainment plugged full of Christianity?
Boise State Campus Crusade (commonly known as BSUCRU) sponsored the event.
Whether BSUCRU intentionally hid the Christianity plug from the masses that swarmed outside the SPEC or not, none of my friends or I knew that the event was going to promote Christianity.
The magicians had already captivated the minds and hearts of the SPEC audience through their magic tricks, which made their promotion of Christianity a morally incorrect aspect of the show.
The magicians’ ultimate point was to persuade that society and its institutions deceive everyone.
The irony is that the SPEC audience, Boise State University and anyone else in the world they give this presentation to have been deceived by the show itself.
Christian organizations need to stop deceiving people into attending Christian events.
I believe it is the university’s responsibility to correctly advertise for these types of shows.
When I’m planning on seeing a magic show, I better see a magic show.
MATTHEW BOYLE
Asst. Culture Editor
Short URL: http://arbiteronline.com/?p=14799
Posted by 
Your comment shouldn't knock the show, it should knock the school group that advertised it the way it did. This show will be at my school tonight and the posters tell that he is a christian illusionist and even if the posters didn't say it, like you mentioned, you knew that it was going to be a christian magic show, Look who's sponsoring it. There has to be speeches if they are going to make their message clear, and it had to be somewhat entertaining to you if you stayed and watched the whole thing.
Minivan, have you checked MAZE's website? I applaud your school's group for revealing details MAZE themselves had hidden. If you look in their website, their 'about' page is completely devoid of any mentioning of Christianity.
These little cards advertising MAZE were passed around our host college. (I'm just going to call it 'host college' because my high school is located in its premises.) One of them had wormed its way to my high school. It says that the show is free and it is sponsored by CRU, and I had no idea what CRU is. I simply assumed it is a form of student council of our host college, and had planned on attending the show when my afterschool schedule went astray, destroying the thing that is my free time. Curious of just how good it is, I googled MAZE. Imagine my shock when I learned they were doing Christianity speeches.
I don't have anything against Christianity, nor do I have anything against Christianity speeches or anything of the sort. But I am against misleading information.
And I had just learned a second ago that CRU stood for Campus Crusade for Christ. But even if I had known that was what it had stood for, there is a possibility that I could've thought it was for fundraising. That snacks would be sold and they would get money from it. Fundraising high school-style.
Apparently not.
Author is right to knock the show. But you are also right; he should also knock the school group. They are both deceiving people, and while there is no lying involved, there is a concealment of details. That's similar to a doctor truthfully telling their patient their cold is gone, but not telling them that they have something else.
But had I gone to the show… Truthfully… I'd probably sleep whenever they do anything akin to a sermon, waking up only when magic occurs. And when the show has ended.
He gave you guys a chance to leave
He gave you an hour of magic and then he took an hour to talk. They never say you have to believe them, they don't shove it in your face. They just simply give you their opinion and tell how America has done nothing but set the bar lower and lower and lower. They gave you what you came for, they just added a few things in it. Get over it. The Maze is a great show.
I suppose it is their right to tell you what they want, at the risk of you not caring or actually getting up to leave.
I walked away from a bunch of bands at the Warped Tour in 2003 after they decided to infuse their concert with political drivel. They certainly didn't inform us we'd have the privilege to hear them talk about their political beliefs (however enlightening they may have been).
I probably wouldn't use that method if I were performing, but then again, I don't really have a talent that people would come see, lol. I would certainly encourage people to share the gospel regardless of the setting, but these types of events are not particularly good for evangelism – there is nothing more relational than Christianity and nothing less relational than a travelling performer.
I too was really pissed at my school and this show for the same reasons the article stated. I'm not a Christian, but I have no problem with people choosing Christianity as their faith. What I do have a problem with is being blatantly lied to. My school is hosting this even tomorrow, and I would have had no idea that this was a form of Christian evangelizing if it wasn't for a random person in my rationalist group who happened to have heard about this from a friend who attended one. The website lists nothing about its affiliation with Christianity. The school lists nothing as well, only that it's sponsored by CRU, and who the hec knows what that stands for who isn't a part of the group?? I sure didn't. This is absolutely infuriating to me. I would have attended and listened to them if they were honest about their intentions beforehand.
Get over it! They said you could leave.