Oh no! Notre Dame is on fire

I hate to be cynical but... my genuine first thought when the news broke was “oh my God, this is awful”. My second thought was, “this was intentional.”

Of course I could be wrong, but I’ve been reading up on places in Europe DH and I will be visiting next year, as I’ve never been. A couple articles from the last few years have mentioned the money needed to restore Notre Dame and the questions as to who would pay (government vs. church) and how they would raise those funds, along with the expensive basic upkeep due to its age. Setting fire to the wooden roof knowing that the odds of the stone structure being completely lost would be low to make a ton of money from donations from the rich that they wouldn’t otherwise get? I mean they’ve already raised what, almost $700 million?

I hope I’m wrong, but you really never know how far people are willing to go for money. And I say this as a Catholic.
 
I hate to be cynical but... my genuine first thought when the news broke was “oh my God, this is awful”. My second thought was, “this was intentional.”

Of course I could be wrong, but I’ve been reading up on places in Europe DH and I will be visiting next year, as I’ve never been. A couple articles from the last few years have mentioned the money needed to restore Notre Dame and the questions as to who would pay (government vs. church) and how they would raise those funds, along with the expensive basic upkeep due to its age. Setting fire to the wooden roof knowing that the odds of the stone structure being completely lost would be low to make a ton of money from donations from the rich that they wouldn’t otherwise get? I mean they’ve already raised what, almost $700 million?

I hope I’m wrong, but you really never know how far people are willing to go for money. And I say this as a Catholic.
Yes, you're wrong.
 
I was brought to tears to see this happening yesterday..:sad: DH and I went to Paris last year, and this was one of stops we spent over 2 hours inside the church it was completely so beautiful and soul warming to be able to step inside a holy place such as this.... and we even more time walking around the outside, as well as viewing it from a dinner cruise... This is truly a loss for the people of Paris and France as well as the World...
 


Yes, you're wrong.

Oh by all means, feel free to think I’m wrong. As I said, I hope I am. But don’t state something as a *fact* when you don’t know it to be so. I will continue to follow the story, as will everyone else. But I don’t think ignoring the possibility that it may have been intentional does anyone any good.
 
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Police and officials in Paris have stated they have no evidence that it was arson in any way and they are investigating it as an accident due to the renovation. I'm not sure people are "ignoring the possibility of it being intentional" but when there is no evidence to support that theory according to the actual people that are there doing the investigating, than it is ok to dismiss it and move on to other theories.
 
Police and officials in Paris have stated they have no evidence that it was arson in any way and they are investigating it as an accident due to the renovation. I'm not sure people are "ignoring the possibility of it being intentional" but when there is no evidence to support that theory according to the actual people that are there doing the investigating, than it is ok to dismiss it and move on to other theories.
Fire investigators are always open to all possibilities. It's a part of the job, see where the evidence takes you.
 


Police and officials in Paris have stated they have no evidence that it was arson in any way and they are investigating it as an accident due to the renovation. I'm not sure people are "ignoring the possibility of it being intentional" but when there is no evidence to support that theory according to the actual people that are there doing the investigating, than it is ok to dismiss it and move on to other theories.

Yes, I agree with this, but not less then 24 hours from when the fire started. A few months from now? Sure.

Fire investigators are always open to all possibilities. It's a part of the job, see where the evidence takes you.

Agreed.
 
From WAY outside looking in, this looks like it is likely an accident associated with the renovation. If the investigators are not still looking at other possibilities, as some media sources stated even as the flames still burned, then they need new investigators! I'm sure arson can be eliminated somewhat quickly, but it seems hard to believe they are already there, unless they actually know what accident triggered it from the construction crew.

I heard someone on the radio today say, "If you think you're having a bad day, at least you're not the guy who nearly burned down Notre Dame." Imagine knowing it was something you did that caused this...Yikes!
 
Oh by all means, feel free to think I’m wrong. As I said, I hope I am. But don’t state something as a *fact* when you don’t it to be so. I will continue to follow the story, as will everyone else. But I don’t think ignoring the possibility that it may have been intentional does anyone any good.
I prefer dealing with facts versus right-wing conspiracy theories.
 
What saddens me the most about things like this is how it shows the evil that lives in people. Literally while the building was still on fire I saw comments suggesting arson, hate crimes, and worse. If that's what you see when when tragedy strikes, if evil is what you go looking for, then tragedy is little more than a mirror into your own personality.
 
Unpopular opinion but I’ll risk getting slammed by saying I don’t think they should rebuild it.

What the front door? Why would you say this? They already have a number of billionaires putting up $700m to rebuild. This is the strangest thing I've heard.
 
What saddens me the most about things like this is how it shows the evil that lives in people. Literally while the building was still on fire I saw comments suggesting arson, hate crimes, and worse. If that's what you see when when tragedy strikes, if evil is what you go looking for, then tragedy is little more than a mirror into your own personality.

Color me evil. The first thing I thought when I heard it was burning was, please don't let this be an attack. I don't think it's an unreasonable concern given Paris has been attacked several times in recent years. Our church has been taking a special offering lately for a Louisiana church that was destroyed recently due to arson thought to be a hate crime.

I was unaware the cathedral was undergoing renovations until I saw pictures. Once I knew renovations were underway I thought the cause might more likely be related to that. Still tragic, but better than the idea someone set out to destroy a house of worship.
 
I prefer dealing with facts...

All of which we do not yet have.

... versus right-wing conspiracy theories.

I am neither right-wing nor tending toward conspiracy theories in general. In this case, my view is colored for various reasons, as apparently is yours. The difference is, you seem bound and determined to pick a fight and claim alpha status. The boards are a place where all opinions can be shared. And I will state again, we are approximately 24 hours out from a tragedy. No one knows what happened or why yet.
 

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