The monster image of Islam persists because it was a self-serving fantasy

Evidence

I want to change the question from “Why do they hate us?” and ask instead, “Why do we fear them?” This requires an examination of the ways in which Islam was first constructed, and the ways in which these early characters established a fantasy that has been difficult to let go of. — Sophia Rose Arjana, Muslims in the Western Imagination, 39

Categorization

• SEED: The reframe from ‘they hate us’ to ‘why do we fear them’ is the exact pivot of the reader’s whole project — a projection turn worth foregrounding.