Time to hit pause
A few days ago, the alerts on my phone sounded a symphony. In rapid succession, CNN, Slate, Twitter, Facebook, ABC News, Reddit, Gmail, Instagram, and YouTube told me the Notre Dame Cathedral was burning. No one knew how or why but there was a massive outcry. Immediately the calls to rebuild began and, as of this morning, nearly $1,000,000,000 has been raised for the project. The embers are still hot, the smoke has not yet cleared, and the ashes still float in the air. Can we slow down and talk about a few things first?
Things to ponder:
A) Should the cathedral be rebuilt? France spends $2.28 million annually for maintenance and estimated that needed repairs would cost $114 million. It is likely that the centuries of neglect resulted in the tragic fire. France was not willing to spend additional monies to repair the structure but is willing to pay billions of francs to rebuild? Two-thirds of the cathedral burned, leaving 1/3 undamaged from the fire but falling down nonetheless.
B) Change is often thrust upon us. We can react by looking backwards or use the opportunity to move forward. If France was given a giant plot of land in the middle of the Paris, what would benefit the nation most? A massive Cathedral used for religious and tourism purposes, or maybe something else?
C) 12 million people visit Notre Dame annually. Why do they visit this cathedral? Perhaps because it is one of the least expensive tourism sites? Where would they spend their money/time if the Cathedral no longer existed?
D) A cathedral existed before Notre Dame was built. If the people of Paris could destroy that ancient structure to build the cathedral of today, perhaps we can take a similar look towards a new structure.
E) So much of the cathedral has been replaced, updated, modernized, or changed over the 900 years. It seems simplistic and disingenuous to consider the cathedral a 12th century building.
F) What is the value of the building and the land to Paris, France, the Catholic Church, and the world? Is that the maximum value possible?
G) The people of Paris, France, and the church should have serious conversations about the space. As an outsider, I can view the subject with distance. It seems possible to create a space to appreciate the sculptures, the windows, the architectural achievements without spending billions of euros. It seems possible to set aside a portion of the site for catholics to continue holding mass and services. It seems possible to use the rest of the site for the betterment of Paris and France as a whole.
I’ve never been to Paris. I’ve never been to Europe. We don’t have 900 year old cherished national treasures in the U.S. because they were destroyed by Europeans or their descendants so perhaps I don’t understand the emotional pull. I do know that if the oldest structure in Boston was destroyed by fire and I was in charge, I would find an appropriate way memorialize it and take the opportunity to improve the area. The Greeks taught us to remember the past but work towards improving the present. I do not fully understand the Paris riots but I do understand the fear, frustration, and anger of the common person and rebuilding a church is not going to make anything better.
I do know that people are willing to donate a ton of money towards ambitious goals when they truly care about them. It’s also evident that these same people are not as willing to improve the world for the rest of us and I think that’s the real tragedy.
