Before I retired, I couldn't hold much of an intelligent socio/political conversation with just about any of my co-workers
All nice guys a n'at ... but ... yeah ... NO depth ... no thought process to speak of
Kind'a like ... they were taught to think like kids are taught today to learn to sight read ..... if they don't recognize the shape ... it never enters the mind and consciousness.
You pretty well nailed it.
Very insightful observation. However, I don't think their mind stays empty when the pattern doesn't fit. As I've observed with my seven year old, they substitute something "close" and just keep going.
By putting the two thoughts together, disdain for islam being "racist" makes much more sense.