FOR at least 40 years, Christians have become accustomed to
sceptical television documentaries about the historical foundations
of their faith. All the way back to the '70s and later Don Cupitt
in the '80s, there have been academics ready to demonstrate that
there is hardly a single element of the biblical story that cannot
be undermined.
It has been a long while coming, but, in a milk-and-water kind
of way, at last Islam has been given the treatment. Islam: The
untold story (Channel 4, Tuesday) cast the historian Tom
Holland in the role of investigator, and the origins of Islamic as
his subject.
How reliable historically, he asked, are the claims that Islam
led to the great Arab conquests of the seventh century, and how
strong are the links between the birth of Islam and its great
Prophet, Muhammad? He trod delicately, but did enough to
demonstrate that the reputed link between Muhammad and Mecca is
dubious, and that, rather than Islam giving birth to the Arab
conquests, it may well have been the other way round.
His findings were summed up in one sentence: "Begin by looking
at the records and all you find is . . . a blank sheet where
Muslims can put their prophet beyond the reach of history." This
did not displease the Muslim philosopher Professor Seyyed Hossein
Nasr. "Not being able to know something," he said, "is no proof
that it doesn't exist."
Apparently, 11 million people watched the opening ceremony of
the Paralympic Games (Channel 4, Wednesday of last week). It was as
colourful and exuberant as the opening of the Olympics, but,
whereas that was heritage, this was humanism. Professor Stephen
Hawking, sitting in a wheelchair beneath a giant globe, introduced
it with a call to fulfil our potential: "There should be no
boundary to human endeavour." Our growing awareness of our cosmic
environment led into a celebration of human achievement. These
Games would reveal its potential: "However difficult life may seem,
there is always something you can do and succeed at." Perhaps only
Professor Hawking could say that without it sounding cheesy.
If anything, the biggest problem for the Paralympics is that
they will be treated with unnecessary deference. Sport is meant to
be fun, but no one wants to be seen to take these particular
athletes less than seriously. What a relief, then, to find Channel
4 offering a nightly programme, The Last Leg, which does
exactly that. The presenter (Adam Hills) and resident stand-up
(Josh Widdicombe) are disabled, which makes it easier for them to
laugh at the oddities of the Games.
In the procession of athletes, Widdicombe was fascinated by one
man who carried an open lap-top around with him - watching himself
on television, perhaps? He was also intrigued by the dressage horse
that we saw dropping manure during its delicate prance. Apparently
this is not penalised - quite the contrary: it can earn points by
showing that the horse is "relaxed". Mind you, he pointed out, if
the rider tried it, things might be different.
Some of the humour had an edge to it. Hills told of an
Australian athlete who was asked by a journalist if it had always
been his dream to win a gold at the Paralympics. "Not until I lost
my ******* leg it wasn't," he replied.