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Comment by kingkawn | Hacker News Reader

And if the construction location were the western wall? St Peters basilica? The Vietnam war memorial? Arlington National cemetery? A site of equivalent meaning to your worldview? What then?

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Well, I don't think the Native Hawaiians actually built Mauna Kea. I also suspect that the majority of Jews would not approve of building something atop the Western Wall, the majority of Catholics would not approve of building on St Peter's Basillica, but a 2018 poll conducted by the main Honolulu newspaper found 72% approval for building the TMT among Native Hawaiians ( https://tinyurl.com/y2qboalr )

I looked up the estimated Native Hawaiian population in Hawaii; 298,000 people.

28% of that is 83,440.

A minority of 83,440 native people with shared history and spiritual beliefs are asking to have what is held dear to them treated in a way that does not feel like a violation.

How small a group must they be to make ignoring their plea acceptable?

Well, if the other 72% of Native Hawaiians want to see it built on Mauna Kea, why do you dismiss their preferences? If just one person claimed to be offended, does that mean the project has to be stopped? The line has to be drawn somewhere, and 50% seems like a good choice.

in this hypothetical, are there already a dozen telescopes installed on St Peter's Basilica?

From their perspective all placed there by fiat and self-serving discourse of power.

Most of those locations don't take up 1/4 of a state, though.

Exceptions for one’s own beliefs and sense of reasonableness while denying others.

Mauna Kea is important to astronomers, hence their desire to build there. Would you feel their decision would be more acceptable if that belief were grounded in superstition, historical circumstance, or contemporary practicality?

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