Tradition is not fact

One of the reasons for the Protestant reformation was the various abuses of power, mainly indulgences but by no means all by the Roman Catholic church. Eventually this culminated in Luther nailing his 95 theses to the doors of the Diet of Worms in 1521 in direct opposition to the Holy Roman Empire (which was neither holy nor Roman) and the Pope, thus setting off a split in the Christian church which along with the Orthodox split of the nature of the Holy Spirit has never fully healed. The main thing about Luther's reformation is that he challenged the right to sell forgiveness for cash which was an accepted tradition of the then Roman Catholic church. That it was never mentioned in the bible was neither here nor there to the existing powers, it was a tradition therefore it was their right to do so.
Currently there are massive complaints about 'Islam, the untold story' on channel 4, with almost 600 complaints in already and steadily mounting as Islamic tradition comes into direct conflict with historical fact...
Mail.

Channel 4 is at the centre of a storm over a programme it broadcast on the history of Islam.
Islam: The Untold Story has triggered nearly 550 complaints to both the television regulator Ofcom and Channel 4 itself.
It has also sparked a bitter war of words on Twitter involving leading historians and Islamic scholars.
Since it was screened last week, presenter Tom Holland, a historian with a double first from Cambridge, has been subjected to a torrent of abusive tweets, some of which have included physical threats.
He is accused of distorting the history of Islam by claiming the Koran makes little or no reference to the religious city of Mecca.
One Twitter user accused Mr Holland of trying to destroy Islamic history while another called him a ‘fool’ for suggesting Islam is a ‘made-up religion’.
The Islamic Education and Research Academy has published a lengthy paper denouncing the programme. But historians have rallied to Mr Holland’s defence.
Dan Snow, who has presented history shows for the BBC with his father Peter, described the programme as ‘a triumph’, tweeting: ‘Dear angry, mad people – it is conceivable that you know more than the world’s leading scholars, but very unlikely.’
The Academy claims the programme’s assertion that there are no historical records detailing the life and teachings of the Prophet Muhammad is flawed.
‘Holland appears to have turned a blind eye to rich Islamic historical tradition,’ says the Academy. 

The problem for the Islamics of course is that tradition is not facts, there is no proof other than the infamous 'we said so' and 'we've always done this' arguments to back up their assertions, particularly when they are skewered on some uncomfortable 'evidence' that they haven't, didn't and appear to have made it up as they went along. Nor are Muslims very comfortable with what is known historically about Mohammed the so called perfect man. It must be difficult to say the least to debate the known assertions about his 6 year old child bride (consummated at age 9) his double dealings, murder, rape of captured enemy women, nor the contradictions in his lifestyle compared to some of the dictates in the quran. After all it does state the number of wives a muslim is allowed (4), Mo having of course 11 or 13 of them depending on just where you get your facts from, most of them being added on after his conquest of Medina. Nor do a lot of the other historical tales of what is known about Mohammed sit easily on the mantle of a so called holy man and prophet. Nor indeed is there much evidence that the Islamic obsession with Mecca is based on factual evidence either, if as Islamic scholars claim, as there no mention anywhere in non-Muslim sources of a city called Mecca in the place where the current city of Mecca exists.
It seems Ofcom will be drawn into the row, it remains to be seen whether the complaints about facts vs tradition will sway the adjudicators. We can but hope the historians will win (and survive the experience) muslims of a certain stripe are not well known for their easy going attitude to criticism at any time, way, shape or form.
Which is why inevitably there will be a showdown...