Wow. I really like that sidebar at the end.
The title of this post references the “Flushing Remonstrance” — which is a very cool slice of American history. In 1657, long before the United States became its own nation, this document embodied the ideal of freedom of conscience that would later be written into our Constitution. And long before New Amsterdam transformed into New York City, it also embodied the idea that let that place become one of the greatest cities on earth.
Basically, the governor of the then-Dutch colony wanted to keep out the Quakers. New Yorkers, acting like New Yorkers, told the governor what he could do with that law. They stood up for the freedom of conscience not just for Quakers, but for the “Presbyterian, Independent, Baptist” as well — and for “Jews, Turks and Egyptians” and all other “sonnes of Adam.”
So when some rich guy from right there in Queens tries, 359 years later, to bar Turks and Egyptians and whoever else he doesn’t like, that rich guy richly deserves a remonstrance of his own. Surprisingly, it’s coming partly from the Latter Day Saints — a religious tradition nearly two centuries younger than the Flushing Remonstrance.
The author is right: that is a really cool slice of American history.
