Last night, a huge blaze ravaged Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. Some parts of it are irremediably lost, the roof, the spire, several stained glass windows.
But this morning, we were greeted with this almost surreal image. I am in awe of the symbolism of this image of the altar and cross, intact and lit as if from heaven, on this week where we are getting ready to commemorate the Passion of Christ and celebrate His resurrection.
@RemovedUsername342541 Atheists here can be a bit in your face. It's a phase for most people. Discovering you were taught falsehoods is upsetting to people and it takes time to get over.
And please remember that as an atheist I cannot talk about my lack of faith openly in most real life settings. For many if not most internet atheists what is expressed online is a concentrated sample of what we must not say or express publicly.
It's surprising how often my lack of belief pops up actually. Or something terrible happens and I want to say, "this is why I can't believe in god" but I can't say that even though it's fine for other people to praise Jesus openly and no one bats an eye.
When someone dies I have few people to turn to discuss the sadness we feel about the death without bringing up the dead person "watching" us. Or like when I had a dream about my mom and smoking and quit the next day and people told me she was reaching out to me. She is dead. She is literally a pile of ashes in a box in my spare room. She is not doing anything. Telling me a dead loved one is watching over me or trying to interact with me is just... saddening because I know I will never see her or anyone else who had died ever again. Even when I say politely that I don't believe in an afterlife or whatever so few people respect that and back off. It almost always turns into an argument and I look like the bad guy EVEN THOUGH I AM THE PERSON WHOSE MOM DIED.
So yeah, maybe think about it from the atheist perspective and recognize the privilege theists have enjoyed for the entirety of human history.
@Doomflower Thank you. For being civil, for taking the time to explain your point of view without feeling the need to attack others who have different beliefs. I am sorry for your loss, losing a mother is very painful, and something we never fully get over.
I find it strangely coincidental that a major and much visited symbol of Christianity "accidentally" catches fire days before a major Christian holiday...in a country overrun by "migrants".
Accident? Could be. But if it wasn't, we'll never know because God forbid we offend someone by calling them out for their acts, when they wave a flag of Islam.
D, that is beautiful. my heart breaks for Paris. What a tragedy. They think this was caused by construction, correct? I was there in 1999 and again in 2011. was any of the glass saved?
@akindheart It is quite sad, especially since it happened just before Easter. Some of the glass did survive, as did the structure, but they're talking about 5 years of renovation, it will probably end up taking much longer.
