Lenses limit our field of view and magnify what we choose to look at. [No quibbling about types and properties of lenses to avoid dealing with the merits of the issue.]
In the Edgar Alan Poe story “The Sphinx” – a distant “monster” seen through the window; turns out to be an insect crawling upon a spider thread, along the window-sash. The “lens” in this case; is the Cholera epidemic that pervades the author’s thoughts.
“Lenses” built of fear and ignorance; can make a monster of anyone.