I have read with interest the Rev. Kenneth Locke's article, "Trip to Turkey illuminates Islam,'' The Tennessean, July 13. The good reverend chose to tell one feel-good side of the story while ignoring enough to fill an encyclopedia. Here is just a glimpse of "the rest of the story."

Turkey is secular in spite of Islam, not because of it. Turkey's powerful military is what keeps it secular.

"Secular Islam'' is an irreconcilable contradiction in terms.

The modern secular Turkish Republic was founded by the great Mustafa Kemal Ataturk (Great Turk), who despised everything Arabic and Islamic. He wanted Turkey to be Western, secular, European and democratic. It was Ataturk who conceived of gender equality and secularism for Turkey, in direct contravention to its Islamic leaders.

It was Ataturk who issued the order to change the Turkish language alphabet from Arabic to Latin, in order to distance his people from Arabic culture as much as possible. He banned traditional Turkish/Arabic attire and encouraged his fellow countrymen and women to wear Western clothing.

• Locke's article studiously avoids Islamic Turkish atrocities in Cyprus and Greece, and the destruction of Orthodox Christian states in Eastern Europe.

• Why doesn't Locke ask Christian Armenians, Serbs, Greeks and Hungarians, or Muslim Kurds, about Islamic Turkish "tolerance?"

• If Islam is so tolerant of other religions, why is it that 99 percent of Turkey's population is still Muslim, even long after sweeping political and social secularization?

• Why does Turkey fail to acknowledge the Armenian holocaust?

• What happened to Greek, Armenian and Russian minorities in Turkey?

• Does Locke know how Constantinople became Istanbul? Has he done even a minimal amount of homework concerning how Islamic

Turks destroyed the entire Orthodox Christian church in the Near East?

Turkey wants to be secular now because it benefits its people. It wants full membership in the European Union so that it can export surplus Turkish population to Europe and the Americas.

If the Rev. Locke wants to know about true Islam in action, I strongly recommend that he visit Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan, Somalia or Saudi Arabia, then come back and write a balanced and comprehensive report.

The hard fact that Locke attempts to waltz around is that Islam cannot assimilate into American society for the very simple reason that the Quran is the antithesis of the U.S. Constitution.

The U.S. Constitution is of the people, by the people and for the people. Americans delegate power to the government to manage their affairs. In stark contrast, the Quran is considered by its adherents to be the literal world of Allah, the Arabic God, and the final arbiter of the law and the affairs of man. Muslims are slaves of Allah, whereas America was founded as a haven and harbor for free and independent people.

The Quran is simply incompatible with the Constitution; therefore, the assimilation of Islam into American society, in the long run, is highly unlikely if not categorically impossible.

I don't know why Locke wanted to spend his vacation time in his hotel room watching American sports or daytime shows while visiting a foreign land, but if he is going to assay to write about Islam, I suggest he get out more.