monitoring Trump and relevant contemporary events

In 1914, the Reims cathedral (much larger than Notre Dame) caught fire after being bombed by the Germans. And then it was rebuilt.

At least the Germans did it right, Coventry was rebuilt as a brutalist nightmare.

Err, the Reims cathedral was rebuilt by the French.

Good news in Paris: the three large "rosaces" (stain glass roses?) are said to be standing.

I guess that's one way to tax a church.

That must have been before there were sexual abusers to install as clergy as a tool for leveraging payments; or maybe just before the law allowed abuse as a basis for awarding monetary damages.

WWI wasn't started by the Germans on France because they wanted to tax French churches.

Besides that, your remark is a deep insult to all the victims of the war, among them ~600,000 US-Americans.

Was that meant to be some sort of anti-catholic jibe?

That is good news. I am going to admit something which only do my reputation around here no good, but I have admit that I have had an interest in the Norter Dame Cathedral since I have read the Anne Rice Vampire Chronicles. I looked it up on the interenet after reading about it. Sorry. I rarely go anywhere much less overseas; so the only way I learn about the world is through books.

The news seem to show this picture the most, with the golden cross shinning amidst the devastation. Dramatic.

Oh well, i was expecting a Disney reference (the Hunchback of Notre Dame)... Anne Rice is probly better. :-)

Sorry again. Didn't mean to make of light of yesterday's horrible event. Just saying where I first read of it.

Oh please, rev... I'm not offended or anything. It's perfectly okay to have known about Notre Dame through a book.

Ok.

Considering you didn't have any bomb damage to deal with, you had plenty of idle hands.

What I was trying to contrast was how Dresden was pretty much restored to its original whilst Coventry became something quite horrible.

In fact, it's a honor for a building to be know through films, books, comics etc. It shows that the building has a cultural value on its own, far from its original purpose as a 'mere' church.

I discovered Notre Dame during a school trip in primary school. I was living in Reims, so I was not impressed... Reims is bigger and more important historically than Paris, as gothic cathedrals go.

Then I really discovered Notre Dame by reading a fairly good parody of Hugo's eponymous book, by Gotlib and Alexis in a series called "Cinemastock".


Monseigneur Claude Frollo (the bad guy) falling from Notre-Dame to his death in Cinemastock.

No bomb damage? After WW1?

I was talking about WW2, you managed to avoid it then.

Oh well, your comic differed than mine to say the least. I was fond of Huey, Dewy and Louie; helped me to learn to read better. In fact the Hunchback of Notre Dame scared me.

I read about Catocombs (spell?) of Paris, is that what that picture is about or hell?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catacombs_of_Paris

Property and lives are destroyed and wasted and you're worried about insults?

People should respect life and property. When violence, destruction, and war occur, it is the result of many layers of human failure piling up and catching fire, no?

Don't you think that people would be capable of arriving democratically at peaceful, non-destructive solutions to social-economic problems if they were fully committed to doing so? I do, but sometimes I realize that they've shirked the commitment for so long, they've lost the ability to see the extent of what's gone wrong and what sacrifices are required to do right without sacrificing lives in the process.

The bottom line is that when enough people shirk enough non-destructive sacrifices for long enough, other more destructive sacrifices begin occurring. Sustainable austerity could lead to peace and prosperity, but how can it when people fail to find faith in it, let alone sustain it?

Of course not. It was just a snide comment regarding the various ways that money and jobs can be extracted from church funds. A damaged church creates jobs and contracts when it's rebuilt. Lawsuits against abusive clergy also facilitate funds transfers. If you can get a mole into a position to abuse, you can sue the church for damages for what the mole does, no?

What I'm saying is not about religion. It is about how people abuse power and institutions to abuse others and manipulate economically.