Comments on: The Bishop’s Gambit http://www.liberal-vision.org/2010/03/12/the-bishop%e2%80%99s-gambit/ Looking Forward to Freedom Wed, 08 Feb 2012 21:13:29 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1.3 By: Niklas Smith http://www.liberal-vision.org/2010/03/12/the-bishop%e2%80%99s-gambit/comment-page-1/#comment-4910 Niklas Smith Fri, 19 Mar 2010 13:24:19 +0000 http://www.liberal-vision.org/?p=5175#comment-4910 Excellent letter! And congratulations on your selection as a Lib Dem PPC. Excellent letter! And congratulations on your selection as a Lib Dem PPC.

]]> By: Jock http://www.liberal-vision.org/2010/03/12/the-bishop%e2%80%99s-gambit/comment-page-1/#comment-4556 Jock Fri, 12 Mar 2010 15:36:20 +0000 http://www.liberal-vision.org/?p=5175#comment-4556 [Amended to delete reference to comments that were, in turn, deleted at the request of the author] I wrote to all the bishops as well during things like the section 28 debate and I think got a reply from every single one, which is a good hit rate really. Talking of Anglicans and politics, I think I managed to persuade my mum, who is in her final year of a Theology degree and will be ordained a Deacon this July and whose current essay topic is about the church and poverty to take a critical look at that stuff from the 80's "Faith in the City" by the then Bishop of Liverpool, David Shepard and make a case that the church should be advocating a reduction in state intervention to help alleviate poverty...:) [Amended to delete reference to comments that were, in turn, deleted at the request of the author]

I wrote to all the bishops as well during things like the section 28 debate and I think got a reply from every single one, which is a good hit rate really.

Talking of Anglicans and politics, I think I managed to persuade my mum, who is in her final year of a Theology degree and will be ordained a Deacon this July and whose current essay topic is about the church and poverty to take a critical look at that stuff from the 80′s “Faith in the City” by the then Bishop of Liverpool, David Shepard and make a case that the church should be advocating a reduction in state intervention to help alleviate poverty…:)

]]> By: Tom Papworth http://www.liberal-vision.org/2010/03/12/the-bishop%e2%80%99s-gambit/comment-page-1/#comment-4552 Tom Papworth Fri, 12 Mar 2010 11:55:17 +0000 http://www.liberal-vision.org/?p=5175#comment-4552 <em>[The text of this comment has been amended following the deletion of comments by another contributor at their request]</em> ... It is true that there is more than one way of electing people. What bishops represent is corporatism. It’s a terrible system of politics and one that hasn’t had much practice outside the House of Lords since the fall of Mussolini (though Simon Jenkins occasionally proposed it). The bishops don’t actually represent geographical areas. They represent members of the church in that area – and I doubt very much that the average member of the church has much say in who his Lord Spiritual is. Bishops can provide a non-partisan representation, but only because they are not really answerable to anybody (how often has a bishop been removed from parliament because people did not agree with his views?). As for my “advocating [a system that] that runs the risk of homogenising the two houses”, I would refer you to point 4 of my letter. ... [The text of this comment has been amended following the deletion of comments by another contributor at their request]

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It is true that there is more than one way of electing people. What bishops represent is corporatism. It’s a terrible system of politics and one that hasn’t had much practice outside the House of Lords since the fall of Mussolini (though Simon Jenkins occasionally proposed it).

The bishops don’t actually represent geographical areas. They represent members of the church in that area – and I doubt very much that the average member of the church has much say in who his Lord Spiritual is.

Bishops can provide a non-partisan representation, but only because they are not really answerable to anybody (how often has a bishop been removed from parliament because people did not agree with his views?). As for my “advocating [a system that] that runs the risk of homogenising the two houses”, I would refer you to point 4 of my letter.

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