Religious change

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How religions establish their
beliefs and change them over time.

About establishing and changing beliefs:

Speaking generally, religious beliefs are often established at the denominational, congregational and individual level on the basis of four factors:

Conservative wings pf Christianity tend to more heavily weigh the first two factors; the liberal and progressive wing tend to give more importance to the last two factors. A similar process is seen in other world religions.

Too often, these four factors lead to conclusions that are not in agreement. Unfortunately, many faith groups do not have mechanisms to handle change well without angry debate, schism and even violence.

This section will describe how religious groups have handled or are handling change. Most essays linked to this menu deal with three examples of changes -- relating to human slavery, the status of women, and the rights of homosexuals and bisexuals. These are arguably the main conflicts in the 19th, 20th and 21st century to date. They are also useful to study because the first is largely settled (although the negative effects of slavery will be with us for generations); the second is partly settled; and the third is in full swing.

Topics covered in this section: