My latest in PJ Media:
French President Emmanuel Macron vowed in April 2019 that the 850-year-old Notre Dame cathedral in Paris, one of the most monumental and iconic manifestations of Europe’s now largely discarded Christian faith, would be built back better after being destroyed in a devastating fire. “The fire at Notre Dame reminds us that our history never stops and we will always have challenges to overcome,” Macron declared. “We will rebuild Notre Dame, more beautiful than before — and I want it done in the next five years. We can do it. After the time of testing comes a time of reflection and then of action.” As it turns out, by “more beautiful,” Macron meant “more woke.” The new Notre Dame cathedral, which is slated to open in 2024, will not be a monument to Christianity, but to Europe’s new faith of Leftism.
Macron directed in 2020 that the cathedral’s magnificent spire, which collapsed in the fire, would be rebuilt exactly as it had been before, after initially saying that it would be replaced with “a contemporary architectural gesture.” However, that fidelity to tradition will not go for the rest of the cathedral, and really, what did you expect? How could today’s woke France possibly produce a monument to the Christian faith that it no longer holds? And so, according to the UK’s Daily Mail, the cathedral is “being turned into a ‘woke theme park.’” This will involve the scrapping of confessional boxes, side altars, and sculptures, so as to make room for “trendy art murals, with sound and lighting effects creating ‘emotional spaces.’”
The new Notre Dame will also focus on the real threat to humanity: not the inclination to sin that is inside every human soul (that’s so twelfth century), but global warming, of course. The new and improved cathedral will feature a chapel dedicated to ‘reconciled creation’, referring to Pope Francis’ Laudato Si encyclical which lamented environmental degradation and global warming.”
That’s not all. The new cathedral will also celebrate diversity and multiculturalism — how could it not do so? “A ‘discovery trail’ will lead visitors through various chapels, with an emphasis on Africa and Asia, and scripture will be beamed onto the walls in various languages, including Mandarin.…. Africa and Asia are given prominence, while Europe, the Americas and Oceania are tucked behind the apse or totally absent.”
Why the emphasis on Africa and Asia? I guarantee you it’s not to celebrate the brotherhood of man (sorry, the siblinghood of humankind). Why not emphasis on Europe itself, where the culture flourished of which Notre Dame was such a brilliant expression? Why, that would be “white supremacist,” and possibly even “Islamophobic.”
There is more. Read the rest here.
