NPR’s Michel Martin Links Timothy McVeigh to Catholicism: ‘Did Anybody Move a Catholic Church?’

On Sunday’s Reliable Sources on CNN, during a discussion of the Ground Zero mosque controversy, after Bloomberg’s Margaret Carlson recommended that the mosque be moved as a compromise, NPR’s Michel Martin – formerly of ABC News – compared relocating the mosque to similarly treating a Catholic church after the Oklahoma City bombing.

Even though McVeigh -- who described himself as "agnostic" despite his Catholic parents -- timed the bombing to coincide with the second anniversary of the Waco disaster to signal that he was motivated by revenge, Martin ridiculously responded: "Did anybody move a Catholic church? Did anybody move a Christian church after Timothy McVeigh – who adhered to a cultic, white supremacist cultic version of Christianity – bombed the Murrah building in Oklahoma?"

Below is a transcript of the relevant exchange from the Sunday, August 22, Reliable Sources on CNN:

MARGARET CARLSON: And wouldn’t it be a great thing if they moved it a few blocks? And Muslims and Americans who still worry would be talking to each other. Let’s compromise.

MICHEL MARTIN: Why should they move it?

CARLSON: Well, why don’t we compromise?

MARTIN: Did anybody move a Catholic church? Did anybody move a Christian church after Timothy McVeigh – who adhered to a cultic, white supremacist cultic version of Christianity – bombed the Murrah building in Oklahoma?

CARLSON: Even now, if somebody tried to build a Shinto Shrine at Pearl Harbor, I think there would be a negotiation over how far away.