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The fall of Notre Dame is a body blow to Paris and all it represents
Washington Post ^ | April 15, 2019 | James McAuley

Posted on 04/15/2019 7:44:50 PM PDT by CondoleezzaProtege

PARIS — It took little more than an hour. In that amount of time, the spire had fallen, most of the roof had given way, and that was that. Notre Dame — the literal and figurative heart of Paris, the point from which all distances in the city are measured and the seemingly eternal backdrop to life in the French capital — was essentially no more.

Granted, the facade was preserved, and the bell towers remain intact. But this is without question a story of loss on an otherwise perfect spring day.

To have lived in Paris in recent years is to be well acquainted with loss and even unspeakable tragedy. The killing of 12 people in the attack at the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo after a morning meeting in January 2015. The bombings and shootings that claimed 130 people at the national stadium, the Bataclan concert hall and on random cafe terraces near the Canal Saint-Martin. The killings of two elderly Jewish women — one hurled from her apartment window. The omnipresence of armed guards at any site where crowds may gather.

But through all of these nightmares, there has been one constant, collective refrain. This was the comforting reality — or at least the comforting belief — that somehow, through it all, Paris was indestructible. The idea that Paris will always be Paris felt truer nowhere else than in front of Notre Dame.

In his remarks to a grieving nation close to midnight on Monday, President Emmanuel Macron called the cathedral a metaphor for France. “Notre Dame is our history, our literature, our imagination,” he said. “The place of all our great events, our epidemics, our wars, our liberations, the epicenter of our lives.”

(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...


TOPICS: History
KEYWORDS: france; koranimals; notredame; notredameburning; notredamecathedral; notredamefire; paris
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For the moment, no one is reported to have died, and that is a blessing to end an otherwise terrible day. The challenge now will not be to rebuild the structure but what it represented: the security, the safety, the eternity...


1 posted on 04/15/2019 7:44:50 PM PDT by CondoleezzaProtege
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To: CondoleezzaProtege

Maybe the writer of the article ought to study miracles and news wires a little more. All things considered, the place looks miraculously intact. The pulpit and most of the pews survived, to begin with.

https://rorate-caeli.blogspot.com/2019/04/stat-crux-dum-volvitur-orbis.html


2 posted on 04/15/2019 7:48:22 PM PDT by Hieronymus ("I shall drink--to the Pope, if you please,-still, to Conscience first, and to the Pope afterwards.")
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To: CondoleezzaProtege

Notre Dame symbolizes Europe in that the loss and the destruction of Notre Dame is a representation of the loss and destruction of Europe.

I sincerely hope it will be rebuilt and restored. But whether or not France and all of Europe will ever return to its former glory is in serious doubt.


3 posted on 04/15/2019 7:49:38 PM PDT by Responsibility2nd ( Import the third world and you'll become the third world.)
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To: CondoleezzaProtege
Structural integrity is gone.

It will have to be torn down and rebuilt as a mosque to show that the people of Paris are tolerant.

4 posted on 04/15/2019 7:51:56 PM PDT by Deaf Smith (When a Texan takes his chances, chances will be taken<p> that's fore sure)
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To: CondoleezzaProtege
he fall of Notre Dame is a body blow to Paris and all it represents

Similar to the sinking of HMS Hood at the Battle of the Denmark Strait in May, 1941.

5 posted on 04/15/2019 7:52:15 PM PDT by Steely Tom ([Seth Rich] == [the Democrat's John Dean])
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To: Hieronymus
Maybe the writer of the article ought to study miracles and news wires a little more. All things considered, the place looks miraculously intact. The pulpit and most of the pews survived, to begin with

Praise God! In retrospect, this is true indeed...but McAuley is a long time resident of Paris and goes into detail about what it was like actually being in the city and watching it burn in real-time..The wave of emotions...

6 posted on 04/15/2019 7:52:30 PM PDT by CondoleezzaProtege
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To: Hieronymus

We are only just seeing a few interior shots, it is surprising how much seems to have survived, I was expecting total destruction.


7 posted on 04/15/2019 7:55:35 PM PDT by pbear8 (the Lord is my light and my salvation)
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To: Steely Tom

The Hood was listed with the Royal Navy after action report as ‘blown up’ and not ‘sunk’. The only ship in WWII to receive such an “honor”.


8 posted on 04/15/2019 7:58:26 PM PDT by central_va (I won't be reconstructed and I do not give a damn.)
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To: pbear8

I was expecting total destruction.


As was I. I’ve been through a Church fire before that started in the roof.


9 posted on 04/15/2019 7:58:49 PM PDT by Hieronymus ("I shall drink--to the Pope, if you please,-still, to Conscience first, and to the Pope afterwards.")
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To: CondoleezzaProtege

We warned you, Paris. We warned you over and over, but you were too proud to listen. You doubled down on the open door policies. Even when neighborhood cars were burned, wrecked or had tires slashed, you ignored it. Even when the French Jews started to move out of your country, nothing constructive really changed.
You and much of Germany are stuck with all these ‘refugees’ who would love to slit your throats while chanting from their Unholy Book.


10 posted on 04/15/2019 8:00:22 PM PDT by lee martell
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To: Deaf Smith
Some time ago, shortly after 9/11 I predicted that there would be a time when Notre Dame would be replaced by a great cheesey mosque.

I never actually expected to see it however. Now it is possible we all might see it.

11 posted on 04/15/2019 8:01:08 PM PDT by hinckley buzzard (Power is more often surrendered than seized.)
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To: CondoleezzaProtege

It didn’t “fall” any more than the kid in the Mall of America the other day.

What’s their angle here?


12 posted on 04/15/2019 8:07:50 PM PDT by thoughtomator (The Clinton Coup attempt was a worse attack on the USA than was 9/11)
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To: hinckley buzzard
Will have to see.

Isn't there a mosque at the twin tower site?

Always read that one was planned/built.

13 posted on 04/15/2019 8:08:20 PM PDT by Deaf Smith (When a Texan takes his chances, chances will be taken<p> that's fore sure)
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To: CondoleezzaProtege

Which is exactly why so many people are immediately thinking islamic terrorism.

Wouldn’t it just be a kick in the teeth if this started a revival?


14 posted on 04/15/2019 8:09:08 PM PDT by metmom ( ...fixing our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith...)
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To: CondoleezzaProtege

A video is being circulated allegedly showing a Muslim-dressed man inside Notre-Dame around the time of the fire. I’ll post the link here (sorry, I don’t know how to html it). I really don’t know if this is legit or not.

http://www.theamericanmirror.com/mystery-man-in-muslim-garb-moves-swiftly-at-notre-dame-cathedral-where-no-workers-present/?fbclid=IwAR1nu6FGlO3GYO-6KrT4xwl3tpLJPMtYk27yFKIrax6ww4qtHT57RbwxU88


15 posted on 04/15/2019 8:10:27 PM PDT by Chengdu54
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To: CondoleezzaProtege

Street vendors selling cigarette lighters is the shape of Notre Dame in 3,2,1....


16 posted on 04/15/2019 8:10:48 PM PDT by central_va (I won't be reconstructed and I do not give a damn.)
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To: Deaf Smith

No. Pamela Geller fought it and some of our own freepers took part in the demonstration. I think the Muslimes managed to get an information center somewhere nearby.

Supposedly the Antichrist will stop them with his peace agreement. It won’t be Jared’s agreement, it seems, but one that both Muslims and Jews will be happy with and the animosity will cease for a few years.


17 posted on 04/15/2019 8:12:50 PM PDT by firebrand
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To: CondoleezzaProtege

18 posted on 04/15/2019 8:13:53 PM PDT by RightGeek (FUBO and the donkey you rode in on)
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To: RightGeek

19 posted on 04/15/2019 8:18:42 PM PDT by RightGeek (FUBO and the donkey you rode in on)
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To: thoughtomator

Stupid French, they’ll never learn.


20 posted on 04/15/2019 8:47:03 PM PDT by abbastanza
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