About establishing and changing beliefs:

Religious beliefs differ among faith groups and have changed over time, particularly those involving:

	Human slavery.
	The role of women in the home, religious organizations, and the rest of society;
	Equal rights for religious minorities,
	Equal rights for sexual minorities like gays, lesbians, bisexuals, transgendered persons and transsexuals, including the right for same-sex couples to marry

Beliefs and policies are often established at the religious, denominational, congregational and individual level on the basis of four factors:

	What do the scriptures say, as interpreted by the group or individual?
	What have the faith group’s historical policies been?
	What does one’s personal experience say?
	What does reason and scientific knowledge say?

Conservative wings of Christianity tend to more heavily weigh the first two factors; the liberal and progressive wings 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 in conflict. Unfortunately, many faith groups do not have mechanisms to handle change well without angry debate, schism, and occasionally 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. We hope to add material on changes among faith groups in their teachings and policies on transsexuality in the future as they become clarified. These four moral and ethical conflicts in North America represent a major focus of religious activity over the past two centuries. They are interesting to study because:

	The first — human slavery and its offshoot racism — is largely settled (although the negative effects of slavery and racism will be with us for generations);
	The second — status of women — is partly settled;
	The third — equal rights for homosexuals and bisexuals — is in full swing;
	The fourth – elimination of discrimination of people on the basis of gender identity — is just surfacing.

Hopefully, study of conflicts and religious changes in the past, will help us understand present-day conflicts; they may help us assess the probable outcome.