And On A Sour Note....

My last posting was about the new peal of 10 bells for Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris.  It is an opportunity to talk about  both a current event that is making history—the installation of the new peal of bells that is far more melodious  than the previous set of bells that were cast in the nineteenth century to replace the medieval bells that had—with one exception—been destroyed in the French Revolution.  It also gave us the opportunity to look at the past—the medieval bells and the ruinous state of the Cathedral at the time it was restored to Catholic Worship by Napoleon at the time of the 1801 concordat with the Holy See.  But the reason I posted the story was actually to lay the ground for this sequel about just how nasty some people are.  Below are some of the internet comments responding to the story of the new peal. 

It's a better use of a couple million euros than wasting it on the millions of homeless, hungry, ill, downtrodden, etc., Catholics in poor nations around the planet. Enjoy, your holiness.

When you hear the bells ringing, that means that the pedophiles are entering the Catholic church!

The arrogance and the opulence make me want to throw up

The Catholic Church is responsible for the murder of millions of Jews, Protestants, free-thinkers, women and gays. 

Dumb superstition is nothing to be proud of

Catholicism is a religion of hatred—the world would be better without it. 

How can people possibly believe the things that Christianity teaches in our scientific world?  We have sent spaceships above the clouds and know there is no heaven.  We have explored into the depths of the earth and know there is no hell.  Yet religion keeps its hold over the minds of simple people.   

This should  be something of good news for people regardless of their religious opinions—these bells are things of beauty and will lift the hearts of all who hear them. My question is why do some people have to be so sour about other peoples’ good news?  Why does religion trigger such negativity?  Christians in general and Catholics in particular are increasingly seen as exercising a negative influence on society.  How has this come about and what must we do to change the perception?