Book Description

This study of a New York neighborhood’s remarkable religious diversity “deserves a place alongside Robert Orsi’s The Madonna of 115th Street” (Publishers Weekly, starred review). Known locally as the “birthplace of American religious freedom,” Flushing, Queens, in New York City is now so diverse and densely populated that it’s 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 the settlement called 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, 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 diversity suggests that there is no limit to how much pluralism a pluralist society can stand. 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? 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 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 of whether Flushing will come together in new and lasting ways to build bridges of dialogue or further fragment into a Tower of Babel. “A delightful journey through American religious history and into the future, as witnessed in the streets of what the author says is the most religiously diverse community anywhere.” —America