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Known locally as the birthplace of American religious freedom,
Flushing, Queens, in New York City is now so diverse and densely
populated that it has become a microcosm of world religions. City
of Gods explores the history of Flushing from the colonial period
to the aftermath of September 11, 2001, spanning the origins of
Vlissingen and early struggles between Quakers, Dutch authorities,
Anglicans, African Americans, Catholics, and Jews to the
consolidation of New York City in 1898, two World's Fairs and
postwar commemorations of Flushing's heritage, and, finally, the
Immigration Act of 1965 and the arrival of Hindus, Sikhs, Muslims,
Buddhists, and Asian and Latino Christians. A synthesis of archival
sources, oral history, and ethnography, City of Gods is a
thought-provoking study of religious pluralism. Using Flushing as
the backdrop to examine America's contemporary religious diversity
and what it means for the future of the United States, R. Scott
Hanson explores both the possibilities and limits of pluralism.
Hanson argues that the absence of widespread religious violence in
a neighborhood with such densely concentrated religious diversity
suggests that there is no limit to how much pluralism a pluralist
society can stand. Seeking to gauge interaction and different
responses to religious and ethnic diversity, the book is set
against two interrelated questions: how and where have the
different religious and ethnic groups in Flushing associated with
others across boundaries over time; and when has conflict or
cooperation arisen? By exploring pluralism from a historical and
ethnographic context, City of Gods takes a micro approach to help
bring an understanding of pluralism from a sometimes abstract realm
into the real world of everyday lives in which people and groups
are dynamic and integrating agents in a complex and constantly
changing world of local, national, and transnational dimensions.
Perhaps the most extreme example of religious and ethnic pluralism
in the world, Flushing is an ideal place to explore how America's
long experiment with religious freedom and religious pluralism
began and continues. City of Gods reaches far beyond Flushing to
all communities coming to terms with immigration, religion, and
ethnic relations, raising the question as to whether Flushing will
come together in new and lasting ways to build bridges of dialogue
or will it further fragment into a Tower of Babel.
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