For what it's worth, I don't fear Muslims, and have always been taught to accept that it's "legitimate" (in terms of being a viable religion). I do fear religious extremism (as well as most other forms of extremism), but I'm no more concerned about it coming from Muslims than I am about it coming from Christians, Jews, or any other major religion. Except maybe Buddhists, it's hard to imagine Buddhist extremism threatening the world as we know it. I think the issue is that the people who "hate and fear" Muslims are more vocal than those who are unconcerned, just like some extremest groups may be more vocal than the moderate Muslims. It's hard to gauge what the majority of people think if we base it purely on who is yelling the loudest.