Bishops and judges are some of the best politicians in the world. They know how to manipulate the political process.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
Judges are appointed often through the political process.
Whatever flaws or personal failings afflict them, it remains the case that the overwhelming majority of priests and politicians are honourable and honest - seeking to live out their beliefs and serve society.
Democracy demands that judges confine themselves to a narrow sphere of influence - that is why the late Alexander Bickel called the judiciary the 'Least Dangerous Branch.' In a world governed by a proper conception of their role, judges don't play at being legislators - they leave that job to our elected representatives.
Bishops sit in the House of Lords automatically.
But one way or another, judges perform a very vital function in our society. They have a risky job and they are entitled to security.
Any politician is to a certain degree a mentor. They preach something.
Judges wear legal professionalism and precedent as a mantel that secures legitimacy for their decisions. It's how they distinguish themselves from politicians or administrative agencies, while wielding power that is sometimes much greater than those democratically accountable actors.
There are no training courses to make people bishops. You have to learn on the job.
Judges must be free from political intervention or intimidation.
If we are too friendly to nice, decent bishops, we run the risk of buying into the fiction that there's something virtuous about believing things because of faith rather than because of evidence. We run the risk of betraying scientific enlightenment.
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