Notre Dame, Icon of the Fallen West

Notre Dame is one of the great iconic buildings of the West. We can only marvel at how medieval engineers built such a soaring structure from stone in a low-tech era. It predates the printing press, firearms, and even chimneys. It was built when religious conviction was the norm, and the Church held great power. Medieval cathedrals were typically built over numerous generations, and much of the work was done by volunteer laborers and artisans out of a sense of duty and pride. Notre Dame took a hundred years to complete. No one who started the project lived to see it completed! Today, we can hardly fathom such profound devotion to God and community. That was the ethos present in the rising West.

And now, with the partial destruction of the cathedral, we see the decline of that same civilization. It may have been an act of arson. It follows on a long streak of vandalism and arson against churches in France which has gotten little media coverage, for the obvious reason. Estimates have been that something like ten churches a week are desecrated by you know who. Just two months ago, France's second largest cathedral suffered a fire that was ruled to have been intentional. Authorities already have thwarted two plots seemingly aimed at Notre Dame itself. It's possible that the fire was an accident resulting from carelessness during renovation, but the pattern of events points more towards an act of cultural terrorism.

In either case, the reality is the same. Westerners inherited a civilization which they are either unable or unwilling to maintain. Perhaps it was torched by the migrants they import and embrace as fellow Frenchmen. Perhaps it was from carelessness in restoring the priceless site. Who was supervising? Why did it take two and a half hours to get fire hoses on the scene? If arson, was there proper security, or were they just trying to pretend that French churches aren't being attacked on a daily basis, like everyone else?

The Catholic church once inspired men to build architectural masterpieces for the benefit of their great-grandchildren. Now it is mainly seen as an archaic institution of pervert priests and a commie pope busy kissing Muslims' feet while his cathedrals burn to the ground. (Yes, he's been at it again.) If the cathedral was once an icon of Western strength and devotion to transcendental grace, it is now one of neglect and foolishness. The images of Notre Dame ablaze and its pinnacle crashing to the ground should haunt us all, or one day they will adorn history books with names like How the West Fell.