It’s what people know about themselves inside that makes ’em afraid. — High Plains Drifter

In most cases, you create your own boogiemen.  The fear of the unknown is nothing compared with the fear of what you use to fill that unknown.  When you don’t know the intentions of an opponent, you fill them with the worst of your intentions.  Perhaps that’s why so many ‘non-violent’ people ascribe the most heinous of depictions to the rest of us, or perhaps it’s why they sometimes suggest the most violent ways to deal with us.