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Re: Notre Dame Cathedral

Yes, but is our freedoms burning?

Is our planet burning?

The news reports this with more gravitas than the slaughter of innocent men, women, and children around the globe.

It rightly weeps for a landmark historic building as its corporate sponsors do the same to our world's wild spaces and the habitats of species much older than Notre Dame that are lost forever.

They poison the impoverished worldwide, with nary a tear.

They spend countless trillions on destruction and death while lamenting what goes unfunded.

Guns and butter... it's always guns and butter.

WilliamCharles 8 Apr 15
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16 comments

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2

Wow, William Charles...that’s a lot of preaching for an atheist website. We can still comment and feel saddened by the loss of 800 years of architectural achievement, art and history without having to lament every injustice in the world. People can be upset by both. No need to clutch your pearls in outrage.

I can do both... mourn the historic loss, and point out the types of tragedies and outrages that are essentially ignored, dismissed, or downplayed on a daily basis .

My point stands, and I stand behind my statement.

@WilliamCharles I totally agree.

@jlynn37

Thank you. I understand what I consider to be knee jerk reactions from some, but felt it was a good opportunity to contrast the many other heartbreaking tragedies that regularly go unmourned by most.

I appreciate you adding your thoughts and words of support.

1

The news seems also to be making this almost a plug for faith. Easter Sunday coming, beloved religious icon of the faithful, etc. And yet, if their worldview is/was true... this is just "stuff." No one died in its destruction. There's truly something to be said for that.

2

"A single death is a tragedy. A million deaths is a statistic."
Jos. Stalin

3

I get astounded and sickened when I think of how much money, time, effort and human lives went into build such edifices to Gullibility in times when people could barely scratch out a living, had to taxes to both the country, the church (as they still do) and the self-appointed Nobilities as well.
All a church/cathedral really is is a monument to 'house' an Imaginary, Invisible, Useless invention, aka, a God.

2

It is sad. A great work of art for itself. Other equal catastrophes have occurred and been nearly ignored - the giant Buddhas destroyed by the Taliban for interest

Yep. Linked that below. Seems to me the RCC might have opened their substantial coin purse to see that this was done right.

3

It's sad. People gave their lives for this place. The loss of artwork is terrible.

It reminds me of the deaths protecting artwork in the Burt Lancaster movie "The Train." I'm relieved no one died in the actual fire here at least.

0

Notre Dame Cathedral in 360° panorama.

[360cities.net]

A truly painful loss.

2

Strangely enough, the destruction of this little girl's home hurts me more... mostly because so many people couldn't care less.

I think I agree.

2

When it happens to others, particularly when due to US militarism, the MSM does not treat it in quite the same manner.

This Iraqi man is weeping over the theft and destruction of the antiquities of an Iraqi museum, the very cradle of civilization.

@F-IM-Forty

They covered it... but they did not speak about it at length with the sorrow and reverence they have with Notre Dame. Mostly because we (the US and allies) were the cause of its destruction and that could not be emphasised to the point that it might sink in.

0

"The best responses to this catastrophe recall, amid the grief, that Notre Dame’s spire was a nineteenth-century restoration by Eugene Viollet-le-Duc, replacing an original that was taken down in the reign of Louis XVI. Most constructions, all cities, every culture, are constantly rebuilt in the midst of damage and loss. Mourning and renewal are linked together as long as the world goes on. Loss is its own meaning. And civilization is the story of rebuilding."

[newrepublic.com]

1

it's not a contest. we can be sad for the destruction of beautiful art and architecture without fearing being thought callous to the plight of the hungry and wretched. whether we do or not is another story but there is no point in condemning the media for reporting an historic and tragic event. it does not cheapen other historic and tragic events to cover it.

g

We can also contrast those things that get treated as no big deal though they are.

@WilliamCharles well, i don't know what news you've been consuming. those things are treated as a big deal by some. however, you cannot keep your camera on a million starving children 24/7 and the cathedral was burning rather immediately and it IS a one-time thing. they won't be covering it for that long. the coverage of the other problems may not be constant but it is continuous. i do not think you are speaking from a reasonable perspective.

g

2

Notre Dame Cathedral burning and some atheists feel sorry that a so called piece of art namely the old structure is destroyed? Well, this ‘art’ represents a structure where lies are taught generation after generation. This piece of ‘art’ is tax exempt while the poor sleep in the streets. Why don’t churches and temples let the homeless sleep in them? These ‘art’ were built through slave labor and there are even reports that the handicapped such as blind people are forced into labor for these ‘art’. These structures are ‘evil art’ if they are truly ‘art’. I won’t lose a tear for their destruction. All I see is evil when I see one of these ‘art’ structures.

what reports? i looked it up and saw no indications of this. if you are going to make such claims, back them up. i am not saying it didn't happen. i am saying i can't find reports that it did, you mention them and you do not share them. quite frankly, i cannot even find a source that says the cathedral is tax-exempt. many churches and synagogues DO allow the homeless to sleep within, although i have seen at least one report that churches that do so are fined. [churchtimes.co.uk]
[riverdalepress.com]?
[ajc.com]
i have to go now, as real life calls. i do not want my words to be mistaken for an endorsement of religion in general or catholicism in particular; they are no such thing. i just don't see the point in hating a beautiful piece of art, NOT evil art, but just art, and blaming it for what humans do.

g

2

I fully completely agree with you. Free thinking and discarding the old belief systems is the real solution to our crooked, sick thinking with highly screwed up priorities.

0

So far, according to a news report I watched last night, the ONLY OFFER yet to come from the 'Citadel of Rampant, Robe wearing, Paedophiles, aka the Vatican, has been the usual 'Thoughts and Prayers.'
The generosity of the Church of Child Abuse is as patently as obvious, in my opinion, as is their decency, caring and Honesty.

0

"Considering all of the issues that threaten both human civilization and animal life on the planet, it seems foolish that people around the world would prioritize replaceable cultural monuments over human life and the health of the planet that they call home. However, this type of behavior is typical for our species, and is precisely the reason why we have problems like war, poverty and endangered species."

[truththeory.com]

0

William i couldn't agree more with what you said. yet speaking out with the voice of reason and perspective seems to only attract negative comments.

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