The fire that engulfed Paris’ Notre Dame Cathedral on Monday was heartbreaking to see, not just because of the damage that it caused to one of the world’s iconic buildings but also because of the allegorical dimension the conflagration took on.
The fire was a poignant reminder of the destruction that the secular West has inflicted on Judeo-Christian civilization. The burning of the cathedral, with all the faith, culture, and history that it represents, was also a warning to the West: We must preserve and defend what we cherish.
“We have so much to rebuild,” French President Emmanuel Macron said in a televised address Monday evening. “We will rebuild Notre Dame Cathedral even more beautifully. We can do it, and once again, we will mobilize.”
If only the West’s leaders and institutions had as much determination and the same sense of urgency to rebuild Western civilization.
But we have failed to teach our posterity to love and cherish the ideas and values that inspired the building of the great cathedral — ideas like the core belief that we are made in the image and likeness of a loving God; that all human beings have inherent dignity and worth; that God, not government, is the source of our liberty; that life is a preparation for the eternal life to come; and that Western civilization, for all of its flaws, has brought more decency and tolerance, has done more to empower women and to protect the disabled and downtrodden, than any in the history of mankind.
The West has undertaken not only to abandon its past, but also to destroy its future by failing to instill these building blocks of civilization in the hearts and minds of our children. We have purged faith from the public square and kicked almost any mention of God out of our public schools.
As the West declines, the question is: What is the great civilization that will replace and improve upon it? Does anyone really believe that a future run by the Chinese communists will give us a better, more equitable world?
As Western influences decline in Europe, does anyone believe the continent will be a more free, more tolerant place for all than the European society created by Christendom?
A number of wealthy individuals are offering generous donations to restore the cathedral. But while rebuilding it will be a massive undertaking, the restoration of our Judeo-Christian civilization will be a much longer process. You can repair a building more easily than you can restore what’s in people’s hearts.
I have never been to Notre Dame Cathedral. But I have heard it said that it is hard even for the unbeliever to enter the cathedral and escape without knowing that God exists.
There are signs of hope even in the aftermath of this terrible fire. Not everything could be saved from the inferno, but much of the cathedral’s historic artwork and its most precious relics were evacuated. The glorious rose window on the cathedral’s west portal was saved, as were the two medieval bell towers. It’s nothing short of a miracle that the edifice largely survived.
Amid the rubble and ashes the morning after, the golden cross that hangs above the altar in the center of the church remained miraculously intact. I pray that it’s a symbol of the resilience of a faith and civilization in dire need of redemption.
Gary Bauer is a contributor to the Washington Examiner’s Beltway Confidential blog. He is president of American Values and chairman of Campaign for Working Families. He ran for the Republican presidential nomination in 2000.
