This letter is in response to both Alex Muller and Khalil AlNammari's recent opinion pieces criticizing the media for putting Muslims in a bad light. The fact of the matter is, not all Muslims, but an incredibly large portion of Islamic followers, did have a violent and unreasonable reaction to quotes made by the pope. Alex and Khalil accuse the media of painting Muslims in a bad light and say that the media should report on the gentle side of the religion. News flash, that isn't how it works.

The media reports on what is happening, even if, God forbid, there are reports on the unbelievable reaction of some Muslims. They made death threats to the pope, killed a nun and burned churches over a few words regarding the religion of Islam -- clearly something no one is allowed to speak of.This current issue is not the only time a large portion of the Muslim population has overreacted from something that was said about their religion. Not too long ago, a Dutch newspaper made the terrible, awful and sinful mistake of including a cartoon depicting the prophet Muhammed in a bad light. The Muslim community erupted in anger.

At some point we must lose this fear that has been instilled in us not to question or criticize Islam. When you consistently find yourself defending the fanatics and blaming their actions on the "critical" media, at what point it is not the media or the West's fault -- who else is to blame? We need to stop tiptoeing around the issue of Islamic fanaticism and call it like it is.

At some point, the liberal media actually has to report real news, which they are doing now. It is a shame that these fanatics put Islam into question.