I've never been to France so I've never seen Notre Dame Cathedral. Still, I was deeply moved by the sight of the fire there and when the spire fell, I felt a sharp shock of pain. Horrible!
I've heard that other Catholic churches in France have been desecrated and some even burned during Lent this year. The implication of this is that we need to be suspicious of the Notre Dame fire. Was it arson? Who knows, but we've got to be aware of the pattern, they say.
That sounds like a bad idea to me. The last thing you want is to help wild rumors get started with the strong possibility that France will break into factions that will take to the streets to address their differences with violence. If it was arson, then they need to know, but until that's established, speculation would seem to be asking for serious trouble indeed.
Update: Uh oh.
Notre Dame fire: The owner of the restoration company - which is very highly regarded - says that absolutely none of his 12 workmen were on site when the fire began. They had already left for the day. https://t.co/9a0B7dzyMB— Emerald Robinson ✝️ (@EmeraldRobinson) April 16, 2019
How can it be learned in truth whether the Burning of Norte Dame was arson if it is ruled to be out-of-bounds to notice the pattern of church desecrations?
ReplyDeleteWhat if the "Renovators of Peace" start butchering French Catholic priests on the altars?
ReplyDeleteOh, wait! That's already "a thing".
Regarding the workmen all having gone when the fire started --
ReplyDeleteThat fact alone doesn't rule out an accidental cause of the fire. The fire might have been smoldering for *hours* before the flames broke out.
BUT, considering that NO public official, nor any "journalist", is willing even to allow the question of whether it might have been deliberate -- you know, as have been so many other fires in so many other French churches over the past couple of years -- EVEN if that is the true cause of this fire, NO ONE is really going to believe it.
Ace of Spades: Notre Dame Fire Strikes Amidst Wave of Vandalism and Arson at Christian Churches in France -- I totally agree with the article.
ReplyDeleteAfter thinking about it a bit more ... there is one important weakness in 'Ace of Spades' analysis of the probable cause of the fire: he was thinking about it from the perspective of a Westerner, he was thinking about it in terms of a hypothetical arsonist intending to escape and survive the fire. But, if the Burning of Norte Dame was an act of Moslem terrorism, it may well have been a suicide fire-bombing.
ReplyDelete