Keith Olbermann, the low-rated MSNBC host, has weighed in on the proposed Muslim community center (for the sake of argument I won’t use the word “mosque”)  near New York’s Ground Zero.

I weigh in now on Mr. Olbermann’s commentary (video/transcript here) suggesting that opposition to the center must stem from bad-old American intolerance though no place on Earth has actually been a greater lab for diversity and tolerance than America (and our closest rival in this regard is certainly not the “open” societies of the current-day Arab World).

Here are some of Olbermann’s key points:

1. After sanctimoniously quoting from the famous words of Pastor Martin Niemoller (“They came first for the Communists…”) he worries that opponents of the center are demonizing Muslims much like the Nazis did to Jews and others prior to the Holocaust.

I can only hope Mr. Olbermann remembers the dangers of demonizing the next time he names his Worst Persons in the World or labels those who disagree with President Obama about virtually anything racist.

2. He cites a pipe bomb that blew up (fortunately actually killing or injuring no one) at an Islamic center in Florida on May 10th to suggest that Muslims actually have more to fear from us than we do of them.

Now, come on.  I totally agree that the vast majority of Muslims are not terrorists but does Mr. Olbermann really expect to win his argument by keeping a tally of bombings?

3. He disputes Newt Gingrich’s assertion that Cordoba House, the original proposed name for the facility, refers to Islamic “triumphalism” by noting that Cordoba, Spain was actually seized from the Muslims by Christians (and the mosque there turned into a Christian cathedral) in the 13th century.

Okay, but prior to that (in 711) the European city was invaded and ruled by Muslims so the name Cordoba House could be seen as recalling an era of Islamic ascendancy over the west.

4. Olbermann says “Virtually every church, every synagogue, indeed every mosque built on this
continent stands where a Native American lived, or died, or was buried, or saw
his world — his religions included — wiped out. By us.”

No one is saying there shouldn’t be a mosque (or Islamic cultural center) built anywhere in America  (or New York City)– just that sensitivity is a two-way street.  Most people would, in fact, agree that it would be wrong to build a Christian church on or very near a Native- American burial ground.  And, certainly, Christian symbols (and a now-closed Catholic convent) near the former Nazi death at Auschwitz in Poland have created controversy over the years — controversy that I doubt Mr. Olbermann would attribute to intolerance. Location does matter.

5. He says the project (now, in reaction to the Cordoba criticism, dubbed “Park 51”) is not actually at Ground Zero but is two blocks away from the the northeast corner of the World Trade Center site (as if which corner it is makes a difference) and “more like four or even five blocks” away from the planned victims’ memorial .

Here’s the map. It looks pretty close to me. It is also reportedly close enough to the site to have been hit by a landing gear from one of the planes used in the attack.

6. He describes the area around Ground Zero as being a “ghost town” in need of economic stimulus.

Even if that were true, sensitivity to the memory of a mass murder site would still be in order. But I’ve been in the neighborhood and I’m not quite sure what Mr. Olbermann is talking about. It seems to me that the economy in the area is actually quite vibrant — at least as vibrant as most local economies are right now.   

7. Olbermann says the stated reason for invading Iraq (an invasion I too believe was wrong) was to save Muslims from the tyanny of Saddam Hussin. He smugly adds “I hate to reveal this to anybody on the Right who didn’t know this, but when
they say Iraq is 65% Shia and 32% Suni you do know that Shia and Suni are both
forms of the Muslim religion, right?” He notes “We sacrificed 4,415 of our military personnel in Iraq to save Muslims, and there
are thousands still there tonight to protect Muslims, but we don’t want Muslims
to open a combination culinary school and prayer space in Manhattan?“

Good points. We also defended Muslims from Serbians in the nineties and brought relief to Muslim victims of the Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004 — with absolutely no underlying economic motive. So, America is demonstrably not anti-Muslim.  

This controversy is not about religious intolerance but of cultural and historic sensitivity. It’s about respecting the legitimate feelings of others. 

Of course, American freedom of religion (which, rightfully and inarguably, extends to Islam) gives this Muslim group the right to build a cultural center or mosque on the proposed site. But that doesn’t make it right.