By REY FLORES
Like many of you last week, I was horrified by watching the news reports and videos of the grand old Notre Dame in Paris burning and collapsing. It reminded me of watching the World Trade Center Twin Towers on September 11, 2001, but thankfully no one died this time, and the church edifice was saved for the most part.
While the initial reports from the investigators and the Paris fire department claimed that the fire was started accidentally, I have some serious doubts. I wonder why this happened at the start of Holy Week, for one thing.
Perhaps I’m too jaded, but after the rash of vandalism across many Catholic churches in France and across the world, I still believe that there must be something more sinister behind the fire — that or maybe Heaven itself is sending us some kind of message here.
As with most news nowadays, it’s hard to trust what we are being told. It certainly isn’t my preference to be skeptical of what we’re being spoon-fed by the “news” media, but I think we have to trust our gut instinct, especially when it comes to something as important as attacks against the Church.
In one Fox News report, the insufferable Shep Smith cut off a guest literally in mid-sentence when he brought up the possibility that the Notre Dame fire could have been an act of terrorism. While most people view Fox News as the most reliable source for news nowadays, aside from Laura Ingraham and Tucker Carlson and a few others, Fox is going the way of CNN and MSNBC.
As with most major world events like the Notre Dame blaze, social media outlets were lit up with all sorts of viewpoints and opinions about what was truly behind this event. As usual, the word “conspiracy” is brought up from all sides of the argument, each claiming that the contradicting viewpoints are the ones that add up to nothing more than a conspiracy. For crying out loud, people are still debating things like the JFK assassination and whether we did indeed ever land on the moon or not.
Only two days after the Notre Dame blaze, a man was caught trying to set fire inside of the grand St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City. From what reports say, late on Wednesday evening the man walked into the cathedral with two cans of gasoline. A bit later, it was reported that some gasoline was spilled. Unfortunately, that’s all the information we had been given at the time of my submitting this column.
The man has been identified — Mark Lamparello of New Jersey.
Usually, whenever there exists the possibility that a Muslim extremist is responsible for something like an attack on a church, the investigating authorities and the news media tend to keep the names of the suspects a secret. On the other hand, whenever the suspect or suspects caught are white, the authorities and the fake news media let us know immediately that the suspect(s) are indeed white. Why is that?
It’s no secret that the Church and Islam are not bedfellows, but that’s neither here nor there. What is here, however, is the fact that many Muslims took to social media to celebrate the Notre Dame blaze. WorldNetDaily reported this on April 15. On one specific French news site, the reactions and comments certainly exuded joy over the blaze. Aside from praising their so-called Allah for the fire, many were reacting with smiley faces or laughing “emojis.”
By the time you read this, Holy Week and Easter will have gone by. Do you know what else has gone by? All of the reports of Catholic churches being attacked in Asia, Africa, and other places across the globe. Some of those churches were attacked during Mass, including the slaughter of hundreds of our Catholic brethren, but we’d never know that because the media silence information, and as we all know, information is power. What about the priests still being attacked and murdered, some while celebrating Mass?
I’ve often said that it’s only a matter of when, not if, a Catholic church or churches in Western Europe or the United States of America is or are attacked in the most horrifying way imaginable. Why not? Isn’t the boiling water being turned up every day in order to have us go at each other’s throats, be it over skin color, religious beliefs, gender, or freedom vs. socialism?
Just to clarify, this column is my sole opinion and not necessarily that of The Wanderer. And I want to make it clear that I am not advocating any retaliatory action against any people or any place of worship of any faith.
However, I do believe that it’s better to be prepared and be ready to defend innocent lives, rather than to just sit there like some sitting duck, waiting for our women and children and clergy to be attacked in front of our very own eyes.
Yes, I know about martyrdom and all that, but innocent women and children shouldn’t have to die in a violent manner just because some terrorists want to attack a church.
St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle.
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(Rey Flores writes opinion and book and movie reviews for The Wanderer. Contact Rey at reyfloresusa@gmail.com.)
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