Whats the difference between Terrorist and mental health?

[Deleted]

I woke up this morning with this thought, and I can't quite find a good way to word it, so please take it as intended not as it might sound. But.

Person walks into public area and starts shooting.

If linked to any terrorist organisation, and / or that person is non white, all the politicians freak the fk out and demand WW3 etc etc No expense spared, eradicate the evil doers, troops on the ground and so on and so forth. Lots of racist comments follow, Trump wets his pants, blame the religion, we are all gonna die.

If just a white guy linked to nothing in particular, do nothing except say "mental health is an issue" and "can't put any controls on guns."


Isn't that weird? Its the exact same crime. 

[toepick]

I was going to answer your question this way: "If the person is white and Christian, then automatically not a terrorist, even if they clearly have terroristic motives (Planned Parenthood shooter). If the person is non-white but Christian, not a terrorist but rather a thug. If the person is Muslim, then automatically a terrorist."

Pretty sure that if the Oklahoma City bombing happened today, McVeigh would not be called a terrorist by Fox News and the Republican presidential candidates.

[ttt]

I think what you're referring to is our cultural tendency to excuse violence when committed by white men but insist on action/reaction when it's committed by others.

But I'll answer the question you asked in the subject, and I think motivation does matter. Most importantly, it matters when it comes to preventing future instances. If there is a rash of genuinely mentally ill people committing these acts, then it's reasonable to think that better access to treatment could prevent future incidents. If people are doing this because they're angry about the US's involvement in the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, then it's reasonable to think that resolving that conflict could prevent future violence. And so forth.

[Deleted]

Dec 15, 2015 8:55:45 GMT -5 ttt said:

I think what you're referring to is our cultural tendency to excuse violence when committed by white men but insist on action/reaction when it's committed by others.

But I'll answer the question you asked in the subject, and I think motivation does matter. Most importantly, it matters when it comes to preventing future instances. If there is a rash of genuinely mentally ill people committing these acts, then it's reasonable to think that better access to treatment could prevent future incidents. If people are doing this because they're angry about the US's involvement in the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, then it's reasonable to think that resolving that conflict could prevent future violence. And so forth.

Thats true. Sleepy thinking on my behalf!