Unfortunately, this is just projection that assumes the intent of the other because you can’t conceptualize any other reason you would find “legitimate” why they would behave like that.

Really, they are brainwashed individuals who legitimately do not see an issue with their behavior. They have convinced themselves through faulty logic that somehow they are simply “just trying to help others see the light and denouncing ‘evil’ in the world”. Sure, any logical person knows that this is bullshit but the religious are not people who understand logic.