Flushing, Just Outside Manhattan, is Proud of Its Religious Diversity

July 15, 2008

Author: Paige Kollock

Source: Voice of America News

http://www.voanews.com/english/2008-07-15-voa27.cfm

The neighborhood of Flushing in New York City borough of Queens, just outside Manhattan, has been a model for religious freedom since the 1600s. Back then, members of The Society of Friends, or Quakers, began arriving in what was then a Dutch colony, fleeing religious persecution in England.

The colony's director-general barred the Friends from practicing their religion. In protest, the citizens of Flushing wrote a document called The Flushing Remonstrance. The document pleaded with the governor to grant the Quakers the right to worship. Eventually, they succeeded, and today Flushing is home to more than 200 places of Worship. VOA's Paige Kollock reports.

Hinduism is just one of many religions practiced in Flushing. One reason the Hindu Temple Society of North America chose this neighborhood is because of its large immigrant population.

It includes Indians, Koreans, Chinese, Mexicans, African-Americans, Greeks and others.

Flushing's many different houses of worship reflect the area's diversity and generate local pride.