Trying to refute Hamdan A. Yousuf's arguments in "Western media perpetuates negative Muslim stereotypes" March 14, Steve Johnson made the same mistakes that those arguing against him said he would ("Muslims owe more respect to Western people, religions" March 15).

Johnson probably read somewhere about the lack of religious freedom in Saudi Arabia and naively enough, thought that all Muslims act in such a way. If Johnson knew the basics about Islam, he would probably know that the version of Islam implemented in Saudi Arabia, Wahabism, is Islam's most conservative form. He would have also known that this form is only implemented in this specific country. If he had done a little bit of research he would have learned that religious minorities have been living peacefully in Muslim countries for centuries. They are allowed to believe what they want and practice their religions freely. Generalizing the actions of a single Muslim country is not only ignorant but also unfair to moderate Muslims.

Johnson's letter gave more truth to Yousuf's arguments about negative Muslim stereotypes perpetuated by the media. What is appalling is that such generalizations came from a well-educated university student and not from a person with a low level of education.