Today I went downstairs after my morning routine of hygienic maintenance, only for my mother to have informed me of a fire at the Cathedral of Notre-Dame in Paris, France. I didn't have the opportunity to visit the Cathedral, but I knew that any future visit to the City of Lights would definitely include a tour of one of the wonders of the world. Yes, I am talking about the very Cathedral that has been a Parisian landmark since 1345, a result of two centuries of construction as well as new innovations in terms of religious engineering and architecture as a whole.
Curious to know more information, I ventured online after watching the Fox News coverage of the billowing black-and-orange dynamo over the beautiful spires and gabled roofs of Paris. Then a scene straight out of a horror film flashed before us. The main spire engulfed in smoke and flames had collapsed from the base and disappeared into the chaos. Never before have I felt such a loss, such a heart-sinking feeling of dread, and I couldn't take anyone. Yet my desire to know more overtook the best of me and I obsessively refreshed my feed, hoping for an update concerning the state of the fire, and with the notion that refreshing one's feed regarding such news would solicit an end to the destruction. It didn't.
Far as I know of this writing, the church may be destroyed beyond repair. Let's hope not.
As some of you may know, I am an atheist who grew up in a Catholic household. We knew the value of such a historical place, especially one vital to our heritage, and I understood the Cathedral's importance to not only religion, but literature, the arts, culture, and history. To understand how important this institution is to not only the people of Paris, but to the world, we must realize that its history has been one of struggle. Granted, Catholic rule in the country had valued such institutions in a sacred light, but the history of struggle lies within the militant secularism of the French Revolution where religious institutions were stripped of their icons and property, the destruction and devastation caused by the invading Nazi armies who tried to destroy the will of the French and thus their individual culture by shelling the roof of the church, and not to mention the string of anti-Catholic attacks throughout France. I'm not going to attribute that last obstacle to anyone beyond the forces within our society who wish to strip a country of its heritage.
I'm not going to downplay any atrocities committed under Catholic theocracy, but simultaneously it's no excuse to destroy such an institution in the face of such circumstances. To understand the unity it has tragically caused for people on the left and the right politically to grieve in unison is similar to how people felt in the wake of 9/11 with the haunting imagery of America under attack. Those two tragedies have diplomats and dictators in equal measure pay their respects for a loss of cultural heritage and human life, albeit in different respects.
On this day, we must remember that the Cathedral shall be rebuilt or at least remembered for its place in our world.
Such an incomparable incident would be the fire that devastated a major part of the Europa-Park theme park in Germany. The major difference would be the fact that the first is a centuries-old church that stood the test of militant ideologies and the other is a theme park. Such might sound, dare I say, blasphemous, if Europa-Park was replaced by Disneyland or Walt Disney World with their cultural significant histories, but let's not go there.
Anyway, Europa-Park is apparently similar to Epcot Center's World Showcase due to the national representation and in May 2018, the Scandinavian and Dutch areas of the park were immolated by a major fire that took around two days to fully extinguish, but it destroyed their Pirated-themed boat ride "Pirates of Batavia", which reminded me of the fact that the original Pirates ride at Disneyland caught fire twice. The first time was on 4 July 1967 when a hydraulic leak caused part of the Burning City scene to catch fire and the second time was a minor fire caused by a careless flick of a cigarette onto the set of the ride (no smoking, please!).
However, this conversation is not meant to be that of theme parks (although, look at Cinderella's Castle in Florida and the motifs inspired by actual French cathedrals and castles), but of the importance of this fire and how it relates to our culture, our society, and ultimately our history.
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