Notre Dame + Five Friday Reads 4/19/19
March 30th, 2001
The tour of Paris. We started with Notre Dame which blows my mind. I was shaking and had goosebumps from the sanctity of the place. The gargoyles do look intimidating and wonderful and the church has that waterfall backside with the support arches to the center. Magnificent. The arc was excellent with wonderful carvings and stonework. The Eiffel Tower was impressive and weird because it is just held together by bolts. A nice view, and I wish I had the time to have ridden to the top, but really, what more is there to see from the top? Normandy is tomorrow for sand and pictures for Grampa.
I've listened to the non-believers, heretics, atheists and no-good people. I've heard them call religion a sham. I've stood by as they make fun of it, put it down. No more. For I have seen the spirit of God. The spirit in the walls of Notre Dame, in the columns, in the glass. The faith that built that church was true and noble. A love of God erected it, shaped it to fit its purpose. It's purpose was to be a house of God, sanctuary for the persecuted, shelter for the weak and needy. There can be no shame to religion with a church like that.
On to the links....
Houellebecq on Restoration - The other gentleman in this back and forth is wasted space, so just read the Houellebecq parts. If there is a spiritual awakening in the '20s, the signs of it are found in men like Houellebecq not just seeing the value in the church but loosely plotting its return to primacy. The path of St. Augustine may be the road many more travel.
The Immigration Idealists - To dump on the church and its flock, this essay nails down the bad decisions made by both with regards to immigration. It was a complete misreading of the situation.
Investigation Nation - That the entire system went along with this spectacle of a collusion investigation points to this being a repeatable process in the future. The investigation both was not a big deal but also can be the biggest matter ever. Watergate was supposedly throwing out a bad apple. Russiagate has proven that the barrel was rotten and needs to be smashed.
Yang the Post-Liberal - Tablet of all places has a thoughtful profile of Andrew Yang and what he means for politics. Calling him a post-liberal politician is an interesting choice of words. That Andrew Yang is the only Democrat not calling for whitey's head makes him zig when the rest zag. That he adds a thousand bucks to the message is gold. He is an explicit manage the decline candidate.
China's nuke program - China is going to roll out homegrown nuclear plants to meet its goals for nuclear energy. America's environmentalists and bureaucrats stifled nuke energy in America, but the Chinese need not worry. I like how in the report, the Chinese managed to catch up to Western designs thanks to Western firm delays. I can only imagine what it must be like to work in a nation where the built in delays and dilly-dallying is frowned upon. No need to extend the contract bro, just get it done.