Sri Lanka and Notre Dame de Paris -- One Train Can Hide Another

ONE TRAIN CAN HIDE ANOTHER. BUT, NOTHING CAN HIDE THE FACT THAT CHRISTIANS ARE BEING MURDERED BY ISLAMISTS. A level crossing is an intersection where a railway line crosses a road or path, or in rare situations an airport runway, at the same level, rather than the railway line crossing over or under using an overpass or tunnel. Level crossings constitute a significant safety concern internationally. On average, each year around 400 people in the European Union and over 300 in the United States are killed in level crossing accidents. French level crossings with more than one track have a sign saying "un train peut en cacher un autre" -- one train can hide another. It is a warning to be careful before crossing such a set of tracks. When I was reading this morning about the murders of Christians in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday, my mind flashed that French warning sign. And, it made me reconsider the attack on the Cathedral Notre Dame de Paris. Is there a connection? Did one attack "hide" the other? • • • NOTHING CAN HIDE THE FACT THAT CHRISTIANS ARE BEING MURDERED BY ISLAMISTS. Nor can it hide the fact that Christian churches are targets for desecration by Islamists. • The Patriot Post's Nate Jackson wrote on Monday : "Christians Persecuted by Islamists Worldwide. But, isn't it revealing that so many folks refuse to use the word 'Christian'? As worshippers gathered at three churches in separate cities in Sri Lanka to celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus Christ on the most holy day of the Christian calendar, several radical Islamist suicide bombers sent many Christians to meet their risen Savior. In a very profound sense, we take comfort in knowing those souls received a beautiful and eternal reward after they suffered for their faithfulness -- just as Christ warned his followers would happen. Another three attacks were perpetrated at Sri Lankan hotels, along with another at a banquet hall, and still another at a home [thought to be a safe house] raided by police. A van detonated Monday outside one of the churches, as police attempted to defuse several bombs. All told, at least 290 people were murdered in these coordinated attacks, including several Americans, and more than 500 were wounded and now must deal with their injuries and grief. As for the Islamofascist bombers who thought they’d receive their reward and 72 virgins...well, let’s just say they’re experiencing something else this morning. Compounding the tragedy, the Associated Press reports, 'Sri Lankan officials failed to heed warnings from intelligence agencies about the threat of an attack by a domestic radical Moslem group..., the country's health minister said Monday. The coordinated bombings that ripped through churches and luxury hotels were carried out by seven suicide bombers from a militant group named National Thowfeek Jamaath, Health Minister Rajitha Senaratne said.' It shouldn't be surprising that so many in the West are refusing to focus on what this is -- a radical Islamist attack primarily on Christians. Instead we get bromides about 'Easter worshippers' from the likes of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. When attacks are perpetrated by other ideologues (white supremacists) or target other particular victims (homosexuals), these same folks play up the identity elements. Not so with Christian victims, despite the fact that Christians are far more persecuted around the world than virtually any other group. In fact, hundreds upon hundreds of Christians have been murdered for their faith already this year in attacks around the world. But with the Leftmedia avoiding reporting most of these deaths, and with prominent leftists avoiding even the word 'Christian' -- especially when the perpetrators are adherents to the Religion of Peace™ -- one could be forgiven for getting the sense that Christians just aren't a favored victim group. Jesus did say, (If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you.' We in our humble shop offer our prayers for the loved ones of the victims, many of whom are our brothers and sisters in the faith." • • • THE SRI LANKA ATTACKS ON CHRISTIANS AND TOURISTS. The BBC reported on Monday that : "The Easter Sunday bombings were the deadliest violence Sri Lanka has witnessed since the end of the country's civil war in 2009. Late on Sunday, Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said security services had been "aware of information" of possible attacks but that the information had not been acted upon....A curfew is to be imposed from 20:00 (14:30 GMT) until 04:00 on Tuesday, the government said. The first reports of explosions came at about 08:45 local time with six blasts reported within a small space of time. Three churches in Negombo, Batticaloa and Colombo's Kochchikade district were targeted during Easter services. Blasts also rocked the Shangri-La, Kingsbury and Cinnamon Grand hotels in the country's capital. All the attacks were carried out by suicide bombers, officials said. Police then carried out raids on two addresses and there were explosions at both. One was in Dehiwala, southern Colombo, and the other was near the Colombo district of Dematagoda in which three officers were killed....The air force said an improvised explosive device - a 6ft-long [1.8m] plastic pipe packed with explosives -- had been found and disposed of near the airport in the capital, Colombo. Police have not provided a breakdown of how many were killed and wounded at each location." • St. Anthony’s Shrine, one of Sri Lanka's most visited churches ans the country's national shrine, was frequented by foreign tourists. • The BBC also pointed out that : "the vast majority of those killed are thought to be Sri Lankan nationals, including scores of Christians who died at Easter church services. The ministry of foreign affairs says it believes 35 foreign nationals are among the dead. They include three of the children of Danish billionaire Anders Holch Povlsen, a family spokesman confirmed to the BBC....Other international victims include : five British citizens -- including two with joint US citizenship; one Portuguese citizen and six Indian nationals; two engineers from Turkey, according to Turkish news agency Anadolu; two Chinese nationals, according to the China Daily; two Australians, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said; one person from the Netherlands; one person from Japan, according to Japanese media citing government sources." • Theravada Buddhism is Sri Lanka's biggest religious group, making up about 70.2% of the population, according to the most recent census, BBC reported. "It is the religion of Sri Lanka's Sinhalese majority and is given primary place in the country's laws. Hindus and Moslems make up 12.6% and 9.7% of the population, respectively. Sri Lanka is also home to about 1.5 million Christians, according to the 2012 census, the vast majority of them Roman Catholic." • Fox News reported on Sunday that : "A Sri Lankan government forensic analyst told The Associated Press that 7 suicide bombers were responsible for the attacks. 24 people have been arrested in connection with the attacks but it wasn't immediately clear who was responsible." • Tellingly, BBC reported that the government has urged people "not to speculate about who could be behind the attacks" and restricted access to social media in the aftermath of the bombings. BBC said : "No information has been given on the identity of the 24 people arrested. However, the BBC's Azzam Ameen in Colombo says the bombers are thought to be part of a 'radical extremist Islamist group' according to authorities. Addressing reports that officials had had prior intelligence of forthcoming attacks, Mr Wickremesinghe said : 'We must look into why adequate precautions were not taken. Neither I nor the ministers were kept informed.' A top Sri Lankan official later told the BBC that the government and intelligence services should not be blamed. Hemasari Fernando -- who is also chief-of-staff to President Maithripala Sirisena, a political rival of Mr Wickremesinghe -- said information received earlier this month was of only one or two possible attacks, and that he never expected anything of the magnitude of Sunday's bombings." Authorities said the attackers were thought to be part of a "radical extremist Islamist group" [the militant group National Thowfeek Jamaath]. • The explosions -- most of them in or around Colombo, the capital -- "collapsed ceilings and blew out windows, killing worshippers and hotel guests in one scene after another of smoke, soot, blood, broken glass, screams and wailing alarms. Victims were carried out of blood-spattered pews." Fox News reported that : "After a lull of a few hours, two more explosions occurred at St. Sebastian Catholic church in Negombo, a mostly Catholic town north of Colombo, and at the Protestant Zion church in the eastern town of Batticaloa. • Fox News said : "Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said he feared the massacre could trigger instability in Sri Lanka, a country of about 21 million people, and vowed to "vest all necessary powers with the defense forces" to take action against those responsible. The government...blocked Facebook and other social media, saying it needed to curtail the spread of false information and ease tension. • Catholic News Agency (CNA) reported : "At the conclusion of his Urbi et Orbi address on Easter, Pope Francis said the violence in Sri Lanka has brought 'grief and sorrow' to the people there. 'I wish to express my affectionate closeness to the Christian community, struck while it was gathered in prayer, and to all the victims of such cruel violence,' he said. 'I entrust to the Lord all those who have tragically perished,' he said, adding his prayers for those who are injured and suffering from the attacks." • That would include three police officers who were killed, according to the New York Post, "while conducting a search at the suspected safe house in Dematagoda, on the outskirts of Colombo, when its occupants apparently detonated explosives to prevent arrest, Wijewardena said. Local TV showed the Shangri-La’s second-floor restaurant was gutted, with the ceiling and windows blown out. Loose wires hung and tables were overturned in the blackened space. From outside the police cordon, three bodies could be seen covered in white sheets." • The New York Post reported on Sunday that : "Sri Lankan authorities have arrested seven people," all suicide bombers. The NY Post said : "Sri Lanka’s defense minister announced that seven suspects had been arrested. However, police hesitated over a possible motive, with no one yet claiming responsibility for the carnage. 'We cannot say who is behind the attacks and what their intentions were until the investigation is complete,' police spokesperson Ruwan Gunasekara said." • The NY Post also reported : " 'The Netherlands has passed its heartfelt condolences to the Sri Lankan people. We stand with you.”....'The United States offers heartfelt condolences to the great people of Sri Lanka. We stand ready to help!' President Trump tweeted on Sunday morning." In a post on Twitter, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo condemned the attacks : “These attacks demonstrate the brutal nature of terrorists whose sole aim is to threaten peace & security. We offer our deepest condolences and stand with the government & people of #SriLanka.” Alex Agieleson, who was near the [St. Anthony] shrine, told the NY Post that buildings shook with the blast, and that a number of injured people were carried away in ambulances....The explosion ripped off the roof and knocked out doors and windows at St. Sebastian’s, where people carried the wounded away from blood-stained pews, TV footage showed." • • • WILL THE CALM HOLD IN SRI LANKA AS BOMBERS ARE IDENTIFIED? Fox News filed a report on Monday that said : "Sri Lanka took drastic steps Monday to crack down on new potential terror threats by blocking social media and arresting more than a dozen after a series of suicide bombings allegedly carried out by a domestic radical Islamic group ripped through its capital on Easter Sunday. The country’s health minister said the attacks...were carried out by seven suicide bombers from a local militant group named National Thowheek Jaamath. Experts cited by the New York Times said the group promotes an Islamic terrorist ideology. Police said 13 suspects in connection with the bombings have been arrested. 'These attacks appear to be quite different and look as if they came right out of the ISIS, Al Qaida, global militant jihadist playbook, as these are attacks fomenting religious hatred by attacking multiple churches on a high religious holiday,' Anne Speckhard, the director of the International Center for the Study of Violent Extremism, told the Times." • Fox News said : "All of the bombers were Sri Lankan citizens, but authorities suspect foreign links, Health Minister Rajitha Senaratne said at a news conference....A government forensic crime investigator said an analysis of the attacker's body parts indicated they were suicide bombers....Officials on Monday said that Sri Lankan police investigating the bombings are examining reports that intelligence agencies had warnings of possible attacks. Health Minister Rajitha Senaratne said the international agencies warned of the attacks several times starting April 4....Authorities on Monday lifted a curfew that had been imposed but kept social media block so as to curtail the spread of false information and ease tension in the country of more than 22 million people." • On Monday, BlabberBuzz posted an article written by Infowars, with the title "Alleged Sri Lanka Suicide Bomber : 'Anyone Who Disagrees With Moslems Should be Killed.'...One of the alleged suicide bombers responsible for the terror in Sri Lanka previously made a video in which he stated 'anyone who disagrees with Moslems should be killed.' Imam Mohamad Tawhidi posted a video of Islamist extremist Imam and preacher Zahran Hashim uttering the statement, which was made in front of a backdrop showing a knife and blood : 'Anyone who disagrees with Moslems should be killed” pic.twitter.com/CVyybRPd3Y. — Imam Mohamad Tawhidi (@Imamofpeace) April 21, 2019.' Imam Mohamad Tawhidi tweeted : 'We spend hours exposing extremists every day. This video & its background went unnoticed due to language barriers. If he was exposed & brought to the attention of the authorities, he could’ve been stopped.'...Tawhidi...in a separate tweet criticized YouTube for hosting Hashim’s radical content. According to reports, Hashim was responsible for the suicide bombing at the Shangri La hotel. As we previously reported, journalist Saif Khalid claimed that reporting the name of Hashim was 'Islamophobic.' This tweet was vulgar but not surprising given that Khalid works for Al-Jazeera, which is owned by the Islamist Qatari government." • The BlabberBuzz article also included a report by The Federalist Papers about Sri Lankan Intel officials issuing warnings of possible terror attacks 10 days ago : "Agence France Presse reported : 'The nature of the blasts was not immediately clear and there were no immediate claims of responsibility.' But documents seen by AFP show that Sri Lanka’s police chief Pujuth Jayasundara issued an intelligence alert to top officers 10 days ago, warning that suicide bombers planned to hit 'prominent churches.' A foreign intelligence agency has reported that the NTJ (National Thowheeth Jama’ath) is planning to carry out suicide attacks targeting prominent churches as well as the Indian high commission in Colombo,' the alert said. The NTJ is a radical Moslem group in Sri Lanka that was linked last year to the vandalisation of Buddhist statues. Similar stories have been reported by Hindustan Times [India], Daily Mail, and RT [the Kremlin outlet]. Al-Jazeera, however, jumps into cover-up mode by referencing past British mistreatment of certain groups and attacks against Moslems that were in retaliation for threats made against Buddhists." • A similar Gateway Pundit report was also published by BlabberBuzz : "Al-Jazeera reporter Saif Khalid declared on Twitter that reporting the facts about the Easter terror attacks in Sri Lanka is 'Islamophobic.'....As the world watched for more information about who could have committed such a heinous and atrocious act, Khalid [Al-Jazeera] scolded an Indian newspaper for reporting the name of one of the suspects and details about a previous plot to bomb the Indian High Commission in Colombo that intelligence sources believe he may have been involved in." • • • US DEMOCRATS REFUSE TO CALL THE VICTIMS 'CHRISTIAN.' Gateway Pundit reported : "On a day when more than 200 Christians were murdered by terrorists as they were attending church services to celebrate Easter the Democrats could not condemn what it was. Instead of condemning the attack on Christians and the brutal murders of Christians they chose to use the phrase 'Easter Worshippers' : 'The attacks on tourists and Easter worshippers in Sri Lanka are an attack on humanity. On a day devoted to love, redemption, and renewal, we pray for the victims and stand with the people of Sri Lanka. — Barack Obama (@BarackObama) April 21, 2019.'....'On this holy weekend for many faiths, we must stand united against hatred and violence. I'm praying for everyone affected by today's horrific attacks on Easter worshippers and travelers in Sri Lanka. — Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) April 21, 2019.'....'On a day of redemption and hope, the evil of these attacks on Easter worshippers and tourists in Sri Lanka is deeply saddening. My prayers today are with the dead and injured, and their families. May we find grace. — Julián Castro (@JulianCastro) April 21, 2019.'....'Such a horrific terror attack on Easter worshippers and tourists in Sri Lanka. My thoughts are with the victims of today’s attack. We must stand united against hate and violence,' Representative Dan Kildee said....'The horrific attacks on Easter worshippers in Sri Lanka are heartbreaking. It fills me with sadness that an act of such hatred and violence took the lives of so many on the holiest of days. We have work to do so that every person, wherever they live, may worship in peace.— Greg Stanton (@gregstantonaz) April 21, 2019.' • Social media was swift to reply to the Democrats. Gateway Pundit reported some of the tweets : " 'We worship our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. We do not worship Easter. We are not Easter Worshippers.— Carmine Sabia (@CarmineSabia) April 22, 2019."...."Who says 'Easter worshippers'? People who don’t want to say “Christians,” that’s who. pic.twitter.com/Z4VzXvxXFD — Alana Mastrangelo (@ARmastrangelo) April 21, 2019.'....'I literally never heard the phrase 'Easter worshippers' before today. We’re called Christians. pic.twitter.com/AMx5qwqXDU — Jeremy McLellan @JeremyMcLellan) April 22, 2019.' • We can also ask how so many Democrats found the exact same unheard of phrase -- "Easter Worshippers" -- to use instead of the word "Christians" in their tweets. As happens so often, the Democrat propaganda machine seems to churn out "approved" comments and phrases for every piece of breaking news. What we do not know is who writes these "approved" messages and who "approves" them. • • • AND THAT BRINGS US TO NOTRE DAME DE PARIS. It is almost impposible to find media discussions about what happened at Notre Dame Cathedral. Dr. Guy Millière, a conservative professor at the University of Paris and the author of 27 books on France and Europe, is the exception. Gatestone Institute published his Monday essay titled "The Burning of Notre Dame and the Destruction of Christian Europe." Dr. Millière writes : "Barely an hour after the flames began to rise above Notre Dame -- at a time when no explanation could be provided by anyone -- the French authorities rushed to say that the fire was an 'accident' and that 'arson has been ruled out.' The remarks sounded like all the official statements made by the French government after attacks in France during the last decade. The Notre Dame fire also occurred at a time when attacks against churches in France and Europe have been multiplying. More than 800 churches were attacked in France during the year 2018 alone. Churches in France are empty. The number of priests is decreasing and the priests that are active in France are either very old or come from Africa or Latin America. The dominant religion in France is now Islam. Every year, churches are demolished to make way for parking lots or shopping centers. Mosques are being built all over, and they are full." • For Dr. Millière, the fire that destroyed much of the Notre Dame Cathedral in the heart of Paris "is a tragedy that is irreparable. Even if the cathedral is rebuilt, it will never be what it was before. Stained glass windows and major architectural elements have been severely damaged and the oak frame totally destroyed. The spire that rose from the cathedral was a unique piece of art. It was drawn by the architect who restored the edifice in the nineteenth century, Eugène Viollet-le-Duc, who had based his work on 12th century documents. In addition to the fire, the water needed to extinguish the flames penetrated the limestone of the walls and façade, and weakened them, making them brittle. The roof is non-existent : the nave, the transept and the choir now lie in open air, vulnerable to bad weather. They cannot even be protected until the structure has been examined thoroughly, a task that will take weeks. Three major elements of the structure (the north transept pinion, the pinion located between the two towers and the vault) are also on the verge of collapse. Notre Dame is more than 800 years old. It survived the turbulence of the Middle Ages, the Reign of Terror of the French Revolution, two World Wars and the Nazi occupation of Paris. It did not survive what France is becoming in the 21st century." • Dr. Millière writes : "If the fire really was an accident, it is almost impossible to explain how it started. Benjamin Mouton, Notre Dame's former chief architect, explained that the rules were exceptionally strict and that no electric cable or appliance, and no source of heat, could be placed in the attic. He added that an extremely sophisticated alarm system was in place. The company that installed the scaffolding did not use any welding and specialized in this type of work. The fire broke out more than an hour after the workers' departure and none of them was present. It spread so quickly that the firefighters who rushed to the spot as soon as they could get there were shocked. Remi Fromont, the chief architect of the French Historical Monuments said : 'The fire could not start from any element present where it started. A real calorific load is necessary to launch such a disaster.' • Dr. Millière notes : "In November 2015, on the night of the massacre at the Bataclan Theater in Paris, in which jihadists murdered 90 people, the French Department of the Interior said that the government did not know anything, except that a gunfight had occurred. The truth came out only after ISIS claimed responsibility for the slaughter. In Nice, after the truck-attack in July 2016, the French government insisted for several days that the terrorist who crushed 86 people to death was a 'man with a nervous breakdown.' In 2018, Sarah Halimi's murderer, who recited verses from the Quran while torturing his victim, was declared 'mentally disturbed' and held in a psychiatric institution immediately after his arrest. He will most likely never face a court. On April 8, Alain Finkielkraut and 38 other intellectuals published a text saying that her murderer must not escape justice. The text had no effect....The fire at Notre Dame took place less than three years after a 'commando unit' of jihadi women, later arrested, tried to destroy the cathedral by detonating cylinders of natural gas....More than 800 churches were attacked in France during the year 2018 alone. Many suffered serious damage : broken, beheaded statues, smashed tabernacles, feces thrown on the walls. In several churches, fires were lit. On March 5, the Basilica of St. Denis, where all but three of the Kings of France are buried, was vandalized by a Pakistani refugee. Several stained-glass windows were broken, and the basilica's organ, a national treasure built between 1834 and 1841, was nearly wrecked. Twelve days later, on March 17, a fire broke out at Saint Sulpice, the largest church in Paris, causing serious damage. After days of silence, the police finally admitted that the cause had been arson." Dr. Millière warns : "For months, jihadist organizations have been issuing statements calling for the destruction of churches and Christian monuments in Europe. Notre Dame was repeatedly named as a primary target. Despite all that, the Cathedral was not adequately protected. A couple of young men, who entered the Cathedral at night, climbed on the roof last November and shot a video that they then put on YouTube....Hafsa Askar, a migrant from Morocco and the vice president of the National Union of Students of France (UNEF), the main student organization in France, published a tweet saying, 'People are crying on little pieces of wood... it's a delusion of white trash.' • Reminiscent of the US Democrat "Easter Worshipper" tweets, French President Emmanuel Macron, who had never even mentioned the attacks on Saint Denis or Saint Sulpice, quickly went to Notre Dame and declared, 'Notre Dame is our history, our literature, our imagination.' Dr. Millière notes that Macron "totally left out the cathedral's religious dimension....Macron strangely added that the cathedral would be 'more beautiful( than before -- as if a badly damaged monument could be more beautiful after restoration. Macron went on to say that the reconstruction would be a 'contemporary architectural gesture.' The remark raised concern, if not panic, among defenders of historic monuments, who now fear that he may want to add modern architectural elements to a jewel of Gothic architecture. Again, he totally left out the cathedral's religious dimension....Macron's attitude is not surprising. From the moment he became president, he has kept himself away from any Christian ceremony....France is a country where a dogmatic secularism reigns supreme. A political leader who dares to call himself a Christian is immediately criticized in the media and can only harm a budding political career. Nathalie Loiseau -- the former director of France's National School of Administration and the leading candidate on the electoral list of Macron's party, Republic on the Move, for the May 2019 European Parliament elections -- was recently photographed exiting a church after mass, which led to a media debate on whether her church attendance is a 'problem.'....The murder, three years ago, of Jacques Hamel, an 85-year-old priest who was slaughtered by two Islamists while he was saying mass in a church where only five people (three of them old nuns) were present, is telling." • On the evening of the fire at Notre Dame, writes Dr. Millière : "Hundreds of French people gathered in front of the burning cathedral to sing Psalms and pray. They seemed suddenly to understand that they were losing something immensely precious. Following the fire, the French government decided to start collecting donations from private individuals, businesses and organizations for reconstruction; more than one billion Euros have poured in. French billionaires promised to pay large sums: the Pinault family (the main owners of the retail conglomerate Kering) promised 100 million euros, the Arnault family (owners of LVMH, the world's largest luxury-goods company), 200 million euros, the Bettencourt family (owners of L'Oréal), also 200 million. Many on the French 'left' immediately said that wealthy families had too much money, and that these millions would be better used helping the poor than taking care of old stones." • The sad truth is driven home by Dr. Millière : "For the foreseeable future, the heart of Paris will bear the terrible scars of a fire that devastated far more than a cathedral. The fire destroyed an essential part of what is left of the almost-lost soul of France and what France could accomplish when the French believed in something higher than their own day-to-day existence. Some hope that the sight of the destroyed cathedral will inspire many French people to follow the example of those who prayed on the night of the disaster. Michel Aupetit, Archbishop of Paris, said on April 17, two days after the fire, that he was sure France would know a 'spiritual awakening.' Others, not as optimistic, see in the ashes of the cathedral a symbol of the destruction of Christianity in France. The art historian Jean Clair said that he sees in the destruction of Notre Dame an additional sign of an 'irreversible decadence' of France, and of the final collapse of the Judeo-Christian roots of Europe. An American columnist, Dennis Prager, wrote : 'The symbolism of the burning of Notre Dame Cathedral, the most renowned building in Western civilization, the iconic symbol of Western Christendom, is hard to miss. It is as if God Himself wanted to warn us in the most unmistakable way that Western Christianity is burning -- and with it, Western civilization.' Another American author, Rod Dreher, noted : 'This catastrophe in Paris today is a sign to all of us Christians, and a sign to all people in the West, especially those who despise the civilization that built this great temple to its God on an island in the Seine where religious rites have been celebrated since the days of pagan Rome. It is a sign of what we are losing, and what we will not recover, if we don't change course now.' For the moment, nothing indicates that France and Western Europe will change course." Dr.Millière's full essay is available at < https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/14107/notre-dame-destruction-christian-europe >. • While there is little available in the media, there are discussions on social media about what could have happened at Notre Dame de Paris -- the French compulsion not to confront the terrorist threat head on; the terrorists banking on that; the world wide happenings against the Christian religion; the fire explosion within 5 minutes of the closing of the cathedral; the lack of smoldering smoke and smell at least on Monday if it had been a spontaneous fire - dried huge oak beams, very low on moisture content would have smoked long before flaming; the speed of the spread on the fire; the color of the smoke; the shape of the plumes of smoke indicating multiple starting points of the fire; the openness on France and its treatment of unvetted immigrants being able to gain certain critically placed jobs. There is also talk on social media of chatter on the Dark net, but I don't go there. • AND, David Horowitz, the author of the new bestseller Dark Agenda: The War to Destroy Christian America, wrote on Monday : "The Easter massacre of Christians by radical Moslem jihadists in Sri Lanka is but the bloody tip of a genocidal crusade which has taken the lives of hundreds of thousands of Christian innocents since 9/11. In Iraq, massacres by the most violent and extreme Islamics have wiped out the oldest Christian community in the world, driving the survivors of the attacks into exile. The Christian temple in Mosul had featured Sunday sermons continuously since the time of St. Paul. It is silent now. President Barack Obama who never missed an opportunity to lecture Christians about their alleged sins and mistreatments against Muslims, didn’t lift a finger to stop this genocide. As I detail in Dark Agenda, Obama’s disinterest is really part of a war the American left has been waging against Christians here in our country. This war began heating up with the banning of prayer and Bible reading. In recent years, efforts have been made to ban “God” from even being mentioned in schools and the public square. A leading candidate for the Democratic Party nomination, Pete Buttigieg, has made a vicious and bigoted assault on Vice President Mike Pence for being a Christian. Buttigieg is making his attacks on Pence’s faith the centerpiece of his presidential campaign, and he is now one of the top contenders for the Democratic nomination! This attack is part of a nationwide campaign against Christian businesses like Chick-fil-A and the Masterpiece Cakeshop in Colorado. These and other anti-Christian attacks on healthcare providers started in earnest during the Obama administration with the President’s blessing and support. The Easter massacres in Sri Lanka should be a warning as to what the end of this narrative could be here in our homeland. It’s up to Americans like you and me to stop it. • • • DEAR READERS, that gives us a lot to think about. One thing is certain, Christians are under attack worldwide. And, it could be that the Sri Lanka attacks were part of a seriously coordinated effort to both cause more Christian suffering while also taking the public's attention away from the tragedy at Notre Dame de Paris, where a huge hole in Christianity's history now gapes out at the world as if an Age -- the Christian Age -- has passed. One train can hide another. Both trains are aimed at Christianity and Western Civilization.