'Pretty well at the centre of ALL 'man-made' troubles on this Planet is...

ISLAM!

sorry can't agree O sung wu

the trouble is the god denying Marxist whose dogmas include all cultures are equal (except for wicked Judea Christian), killing millions of unborn is a right, sex with anyone and anything (unless Catholic Priest) is ok, all men are equal (except white males), all women are superior to men (except conservative women).

Don't get me wrong Islam is the cause of much much evil but I doubt as much as secularism.

IMHO regardless of who owns the building and its cultural impact the
cathedral is a Catholic church. The Catholic church organisation has great resources and should pay for the restoration of the cathedral.

Neither Australian nor French taxpayers should foot any of the bill except voluntarily.

The French will almost certainly reconstruct Notre Dame,
Which seems appropriate given its centrality to both
civic and religious life and its rich and
controversial history. The rest of us will decide its
historical meaning and its ongoing value to us today.

Hi there RUNNER ol' Mate...

Of course, you're right! I think to abandon many of the Christian principles - The Western World is going backward, at a fast rate of knots. As you may recall, I'm an atheist. But many of the rules, lessons, and principles contained in the New Testament, of the King James Bible are spot on!

Not only that, much of our jurisprudence (criminal) is based principally on the New Testament as well as the Ten Commandments, which are in the Old Testament (I think). The 'rules' or guidelines I like best, are those that have been articulated by Jesus himself (again, I think)? Like 'turning the other cheek' if assaulted?

All these rules are ethical, and an excellent standard by which to live, and if we did so, most coppers would be out of work. Secularism would be OK too if we 'only' had one world religion, without the different components arguing among each other. Somehow, I don't think we'll ever see it, in our lifetimes?

david f,

That's a new one, the tenant paying for the landlord's property to be restored.

Dear Is Mise,

A tenant does have some responsibility even though it's the landlord's property. If I rent an apartment and punch holes in the walls it is not the responsibility of the landlord to fix those holes for me. It is my responsibility to pay for the damage to the landlord's property if the damage is incurred by other than normal usage. I suspect that the cathedral became the property of the French government so the Catholic church would not have to pay for the upkeep. A tenant should pay rent for the use of the landlord's property. I doubt that the Catholic church pays the French government any rent.