Free Will, Decision making and religion

[Angrboda]

Is the self necessarily unchanging? The Buddhists make a lot of arguments that there is no unchanging thing in consciousness which would serve as the self. But I wonder why the self has to be considered unchanging; why can't it change along with everything else about us?

If there is no unchanging thing in a self, why do we keep using the same word?
There has to be some continuity or we should be using a different word.
Or does the definition of self change with the changes in self so we can keep using that word?

The continuity would be in the set of things that make up the self, not the instantaneous values. For instance, if I've been practicing law for 30 years, I might consider myself a lawyer. However if I'd retired from practice 10 years ago, I'd say that I'm no longer a lawyer; I'm retired. The qualities that make up the self don't change, but the contents of those qualities do.