Social: Although it fits Mormon’s purposes to indicate that this change is rapid, the evidence he has been presenting us tells us that it is the culmination of a long process of social division. The difference is not in the presence of the dissenting opinion, but in the shift in the balance of power between those who believed in the traditional Nephite religion and those who want to follow the worldly way. This shift in social dominance has been fomenting for years, but the final shift in the balance was accomplished in just a few short years. Once the balance of power shifted, the newly dominant politico-religious faction would have the power to increase their influence and speed the transition. Thus it would appear to Mormon that much had changed in a few short years, when the process had actually been more gradual than that.