Why is the Right Hand Favored in Faith Traditions?

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints regularly issues revisions to its General Handbook, a guidebook containing principles and specific practices for serving and leading in the Church. In the spring of 2020, an instruction was added in the section “The Sacrament” (18.9.7): “Members partake with their right hand when possible.”

In 1983, then-Elder Russell M. Nelson addressed the question of using the right hand to partake of the sacrament in an Ensign article. He linked using the right hand to partake of the sacrament with using the right hand for other sacred oaths (raising of the right arm to the square during baptism and other sacred ordinances come to mind for me).