What the fuck?
In a better timeline, I’d dismiss that as a bad joke. As things are, I can’t be so sure…
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I can’t even blame autocorrect for that, but my brain was farting, I think. Minutes before, I learned that the roof was constructed using 150 tons of lead, which was expected to a serious problem for the pompiers. Le plomb fondu - un problème sérieux pour les pompiers.
That said, I am glad the building hasn’t totally collapsed. When I went offline, this was still a possibility.
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It shouldn’t be surprising that your typical Islamophobic far-righter is a complete idiot.
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Meanwhile, in other bad Notre Dame news:
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I can distinguish between the institution and artistic achievements in it’s name (and, in that case, in a very different cultural context than ours).
I had a very revealing personal moment once, at Cologne cathedral: I had the urge to pay my respects to the people who, hundreds of years ago, made a particular artifact. It came naturally to me to do the cross sign - which my accompanying friend couldn’t understand.
It’s context that matters.
As in this case, it is a huge loss. As, e.g. was the destruction of the temple of Bel in Palmyra, if you allow the comparison to clarify my point.
I can similarly appreciate the artistic achievements of that particular ancient religion and still believe that, as all religions, it was extremely harmful and tools of oppression.
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Also the Church doesn’t own Notre Dame. Like a lot of other old churches in Paris, it is owned by the French state, the Church just has the right to use it.
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I read that Terry Gilliam (aka as Mister Badluck) was planning to make a movie about the novel, but then he heard about Disney’s project, and gave up right away. That was no fair game.
I am sure the Gilliam’s version would have been much more darker and thus more faithful to the book.
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Yeah yeah sure. And Pharaohs were capitalistic ogres. And Stonehenge was an pre-indo european exploitation product. And Parthenon exudes slavery. And the Great Wall of China. Don’t get me started.
You know what ? I am a staunch atheist. I was there. My heart is broken.
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The fire is extinguished, the structure did not collapse, except a small part of the roof where the spire fell.
The roof framework is lost.
The windows and organs may have suffered from the heat.
Images from inside here: https://www.huffingtonpost.fr/entry/notre-dame-de-paris-les-images-de-linterieur-de-la-cathedrale-apres-lincendie_fr_5cb5075ee4b098b9a2d8b5fe
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I really had to search for that info. the french state owns just the building and the catholic church is the only party that has the right to use it in perpetuity, but granted, you got a point here.
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Maybe in Germany (your handle is German…), but not in France. In France, the catholic church is quite poor. The catholic church in Germany is one of the richest branch in the world.
Nevertheless, this is immaterial to the fire. Due to the law of 1905, all churches built before 1905 belong to the state (except in Alsace-Lorraine, which was not part of France at the time…). This is even more true for Paris Notre-Dame, which an historical monument. Therefore, public money will be used to rebuild the monument.
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Man, so much for the separation of Church and State, am I right, eh? 
That description of spiritual fervor, aesthetic exaltation, infantile fear, or some combination of all three resonates today, not because the building you may have seen on a recent visit to Paris was identical to the one he knew but because it has continued to change. To ancien régime Catholics, it was the seat of Rome’s worldly power in France. To the Revolutionaries of 1789, it was the loathsome source of all that the Church had inflicted on a credulous citizenry. In 1793, France’s Republican government deconsecrated the cathedral and commandeered it as a Temple of Reason, the locus of a secular religion that prized Greek columns and female statues in helmets and long robes but took a dim view of gargoyles and saints. In a city that bore the scars of France’s whipsawing politics, where ideologues invoked the past for whatever utopia they were hoping to fashion, medieval architecture was treated as irrelevant, disreputable, and ugly.
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And donations.
National collection launched in France
A national collection has been launched this morning by the Foundation for French Heritage. Here’s the link.
Funding is already coming in from other sources. Emmanuel Macron, the French president, who was at the scene on Monday evening, promised an immediate fundraising campaign would be launched as well as an appeal to international experts to help rebuild Notre Dame.
Two of the country’s richest tycoons pledged millions to the fund. François Pinault, the head of Kering, which owns fashion labels including Saint Laurent, Alexander McQueen and Gucci, pledged €100m from his family’s fortune.
Shortly afterwards, Bernard Arnault, the owner of the group Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy declared he would donate €200m.
The mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, called for a “donors’ conference”, not only to raise money for the reconstruction but to involve experts from around the world.
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What about the three churches torched in Louisiana by the white racist terrorist? I presume they’ll have no more financial hardship than those rebuilding Notre Dame, right?
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I view this not as a loss to religion or Catholicism but as a terrible impact to world culture. Kind of like the National Museum of Brazil (? maybe Columbia. South America somewhere) fire was also a devestating loss to world culture.
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On the contrary, this is how Church and State are separated in France.
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This sounds like some quality one-upmanship between the French Ultra-rich.
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Whether local sites or well-known tourist destinations, news organizations do love fires (especially ones where you can see the flames, and see structures collapse). That said, people are fascinated by fires as well, as you could see yesterday by folks online being drawn to coverage of this event.
Also, people are understandably shocked that a large, old, and historic building, one that many had visited, was subject to a large fire, and could be in danger of total collapse.
And then the emotional reaction; some folks must have a genuine affection for the place, and what it means to them (for some, what it means to their faith). Other reactions might be down to one of those communal things where folks get caught up, and then if they’re reflective enough, maybe wonder afterward how they were so emotionally touched?
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I suppose the Tronçais forest may be of use, but I’m no expert.
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