Notre Dame is burning.

[DavidB.]

The dog-whistling here is obvious. The same would go for somebody using the fire to attack the right or people of faith.

I was criticizing no one but ourselves. It does not violate the TOS and I will e-mail Dave about it.

[DavidB.]

This is absolutely terrible, but it looks like it won't be as catastrophic as originally predicted. They seemed to be indicating they thought the whole structure would be lost just two hours ago. Losing the spires and the stain-glassed windows is a huge blow, though. Very sad, but thankfully the structure as a whole has survived.

I wonder if wouldn't it be better, due to impossibility of reconstructing the interior without it reeking artificiality, to turn the renovated cathedral into some sort of museum. Just a thought.

Why would it seem artificial? So many churches have burned down over the centuries and have been rebuilt perfectly and beautifully. Turning it into a museum means accepting to close the chapter on this church and, by extension, on Paris' and France's Christian identity. Which would seem completely unacceptable to me. In that case, it would not just be a metaphor for European civilization burning (fully expecting this to be deleted again) - it would literally be that.

[DavidB.]

Did the communist government of Poland drag their feet over rebuilding the Warsaw Cathedral of St. John?

Communist governments have often done a better job at rebuilding cities in their old state following WW2 than Western governments. Think about the implications of that.