Why is it that when a Caucasian and/or Christian guy shoots people in America, people are like "Meh" or "He was mentally ill" but when a Muslim shoots people in America, people are like "Roar" and "It's because of his religion"?

Since when do Americans ever say "Meh" when someone is shot .. For any reason???  Not sure where you live .. But I've lived in the US my entire long life and no shootings are ever taken casually like that!

As one of those people you mention---a Caucasian, Christian guy---I have developed a "feel" over time about some the boundaries within which other Caucasian, Christian guys tend to act.

When such actions get out into the tail ends of what I have decided what represents the normal distribution, I chalk that up to "Meh"

or "He must be nuts."---in other words, I have a place to put that mentally before it happens.

But when a Muslim does that, I am aware that one of his philosophical assumptions might be: "If you are an infidel, you deserve to die;" and I have no knowledge of what might make him decide that I am also an infidel and it is appropriate that I should not be allowed to live.

I "know" how to react to the first guy, but I have not learned how to categorize and evaluate the actions of someone who might be a Muslim Jihadist

First of all, it's ALL mental illness.

Second, it is reasonable to press the religious terrorism charge when the perp cries out or phones-in his allegiences at the active crime scene. Allahu Akbar.

Third, I challenge you to identify a mass killing by a Muslim that wasn't about religion.

Dear N.Harmonik,

There is actually a name for what you are describing...the RIST PHENOMENON. It was identified in schools - teachers unconsciously acting out such prejudices.

I saw it myself in action...the grandchildren of close friends who are Mexican. If their rambunctious little boy even laughed out of turn, he was given the maximum penalty possible. But for example, once we saw a little white boy run up and smack their grandson on the back of the head, hard... hard enough to be dangerous, braincase fragile.

We asked the playground monitor about it (who was standing right there, ignoring). The response? "Oh, he (the little hitter)...he's just having a bad day!"

* * *

The little grandson was about eight years old then, extremely bright, and I spent lots of time with him both in school and out. I saw too many instances, daily...teachers unable to assess their own actions accurately.

Caution of strangers probably had evolutionary survival value, but now in the age of terrorism we need to get ourselves together!

Because Islam is easy to scapegoat. People need some way to explain why there are so many mass shootings. When a white person does it, we immediately look to the mental health angle because we know there are problems with lack of care for mentally ill people in this country. But addressing mental health issues is tough and something a lot of people don't want to discuss or bother with.

Blaming religion for a shooting is much easier, even though the evidence suggests Omar Mateen only pledged allegiance to ISIS for attention, and that he was not particularly religious. It's likely that mental health played a much larger role in what happened.

Although a very interesting case is that of Anders Breivik in Norway. The mass shooting that he committed was larger than any mass shooting that has ever happened in the U.S. And he was a radical far-right anti-Muslim extremist. Imagine if something like that happened in the U.S. And what we would say "caused" it. I wonder what we'd try to scapegoat first. Anything but the truth, as usual. The truth is scary.