A philosophy professor!?… walks into a cathedral with all the implements to commit arson multiple times over!? It certainly seems like all that philosophical wisdom of his went right out the widow. Nuts! :)

I also heard about that... supposedly the guy is a philosophy professor....not sure if he was trying to create an incident for class or if he was just knockers and looking to feel the burn.

These people had only the crudest of implements, unchanged in centuries, and they built something which has more than stood the test of time. How many architects or builders today build for the centuries? Not many, outside of giant concrete structures like dams and the like.

Anyway, check this book out, it'll only take you like a half-hour to read and it is absolutely fascinating!

:-)

-CW

" . . .inclined to thank God for this fortunate event.", or perhaps inclined to wonder if it could be divine retribution for 20 centuries of unmitigated sexual abuse of untold numbers of the powerless and the helpless.

As a Christian, I have always scoffed at the idea that God would use disaster to punish man for sins they committed in the past. That is because that type of punishment has too much collateral damage to be just. If someone committing a sexual assault trips and falls ten stories to their death, I might be more inclined to think there was divine judgement involved.

More importantly, the death of Jesus Christ ended man’s need to offer blood sacrifices to repent for our sins. In the OldTestament, man’s need to offer sacrifices to atone for our sins was constant. In the most simplistic of terms: with Jesus’s sacrifice on the cross, payment became due at the end of our lives.

CW.. Can you delete #16 and put it in the OUTFOXED commentary...

My bust...

The Laguna Beach City Council initially approved the American flag lettering for its police department. But after some accused the department of being too aggressive and militaristic, Tuesday night the council voted again.
https://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2019/04/16/laguna-beach-american-flag-police-cars/

Apparently, there IS sanity left in this country... In CALIFORNIA of all places..

I pity and feel REALLY sorry for those Americans who think that the US Flag does not "represent the standards of the community"....

Maybe they would feel better in Russia.. Or China... Or Iran...

...as a jew i may not get the same reaction as christians might, but it's still damn impressive.

I had this reaction, as an engineer: "This is one damn fine example of engineering in the darkest of ages of man!"

I paid the extra to walk up hundreds of stairs and see the bell tower and the gargoyles up close and personal. It was pretty amazing, I have to admit!

:-)

-CW

Location: St. Patrick's Cathedral, Manhattan, New York, New York

Just when I thought you had made it through an entire post without mentioning it:

~yann martel, life of pi <--------- Whoop... there it is! ;)

i suppose any practitioner of science must remain agnostic as a matter of proper investigation. but there's a point where it's insufficient to perpetually reserve judgment, where it diminishes one's ability to fully experience the world.

“It's not atheists who get stuck in my craw, but agnostics. Doubt is useful for awhile. We all must pass through the garden of Gethsemane. ... To choose doubt as a philosophy of life is akin to choosing immobility as means of transportation.”
~yann martel, life of pi

As an agnostic, I'm not the one to answer any of th 'whys' and the 'why nots'. I'm actually not even able to advocate for the "divine retribution" theory. I basically tossed that idea out for those of the opposite persuasion to give them something to ponder, and to stimulate discussion.

The NY Times today reminded us of something you alluded to: the vaulted stone ceiling only collapsed in the center, but all of it has been exposed to high heat and soaked with water. The French engineers are taking the approach that the cathedral's structure may have been compromised in ways that are not immediately apparent. A quick dash to bring in the masons and carpenters to repair the vaulting and replace the roof and spire may have to wait while the fundamental strength of the ceilings and walls is tested and proved.

C.R. [6]: I know what you mean, but why now? Why not expect God to blow up the cathedral during construction, when very likely the powerless and helpless were suffering the rule of the Church even more than now? Why not in the 15th or 17th centuries (ditto) or the 19th century (ditto)? Why would not God have blown up every single cathedral across Europe, and slaughtered all the sinful clergy up to and including every Pope since Peter himself, if 'divine retribution' is, as you wonder, the reason for this disaster?

I suggest it's completely unrelated, and disrespectful of humanity's almost unanimous reaction to the near-destruction of a masterpiece of devotional art, to link this event to a (as you assert) 2000 year old contradiction within (at least) the Catholic Church.

Notre Dame was laser scanned to very high precision recently, that should be very helpful in reconstruction. You can see the 3D renderings on You Tube.

The Cathedral is a 900 year continuing construction project, with a lot styles, many of which are anachronisms. The spire is...was constructed in the 19th century. Vandalism by Protestants and Revolutionaries destroyed Medieval statues and glass which were replaced by more modern styles. Industrial air pollution has been hard on the fine stone work.

So, there is a bit of a Ship of Theseus identity problem facing reconstructors....do they rebuild to 2019 standards, or do they strive for a more authentic medieval style. Or just continue the precedent of reinterpretation. Hand hewn, or power tools?

As CW noted, hIgh temperatures can be hard on stone and metals. Especially when stones and metals with different expansion coefficients are in contact with each other. That fire looked really hot!

I understand a billion dollars has already been commiitted to the reconstruction. I think that will be a few bricks short, but it's a great start.

I sent a very nice chunk of change yesterday to help rebuild. Reconstruire dans 5 ans? *laughs*

http://www.notredamedeparis.fr/friends/donate/

That is certainly true!

But, what accounts for the great shape the copper rooster that sat atop the spire is in after falling of the spire and down to the floor of the cathedral. Amazing.

And, then there were the two birds flying around the roof just above the flaming roof and the near pristine golden cross at the alter.

But, again, thanks to the stonemasons … who, I might add, must have been rolling in their graves at the neglect of Our Lady of Paris through the years.

I haven't been there yet but I hope to see her as she recovers.

-CW