You haven't demonstrated anything other than show you think spirituality is an afterthought that uniquely does not require the kind of expertise that is drafted into the Lords.
I've done no such thing - I've continually asked you to explain why it should be any different to anything else, and you've continually failed to do so. If you ask me my personal opinion, I'd say that spirituality is just a new-age term for the same superstitious nonsense it's always been, and there's no need for it in a modern society, but it's not MY parliament, it's ours, so I say people should be allowed to have it represented, but I don't see why it should be treated as something special.
There are other groups who constitutionally can expect seats eg political appointments,the inheritance lords, up until a few years ago,there needed to be Law lords and that has only gone via a quirk.
But, tellingly, the Law Lords have gone; the hereditary peers have been reduced, and I think (rightly) that the remainder of those will be removed in relatively (constitutionally speaking) short order. Political appointments, as a group, do not have reserved seats - you might think (and I might agree) that too many former MPs get shuffled off to the upper chamber to bolster the efforts of their party, but the point is that there aren't a number of reserved seats which have to be filled with, say, Conservative Party members or even with members of official political parties: but there is still this 'special' group of Lords Spiritual which you can't seem to even start to begin hinting at justifying.
Aside from those we can expect institutionally there to be Lords from sport entertainment civil and public service and captains of industry.
Again, the only group we can expect to be there institutionally are the Lords Spiritual and the hereditary peers. If we can expect to see sportspeople, entertainers, civil and public servants and captains of industry just because they are the cream of the crop, why are you not confident (despite the evidence that they are already there) that spirituality will have sufficient representation if the Lords Spiritual were removed?
It is therefore about expertise.
Why does 'spirituality' need specially selected expertise but science, military matters and healthcare don't?
You are stating that spirituality is less than these other aspects.
No, I'm saying that it's currently treated as something more - it has specially reserved place for its representatives which other fields do not - and that it should be treated as equal.
Getting rid of spiritual Lords doesn't solve any recruitment issues in the house of Lords.
That's not the point of getting rid of them.
It merely satisfies those who see it as an afterthought getting their way and understanding enshrined in our societal structures.
It's about levelling the playing field so that particular fields - and, in the current set-up, particular viewpoints from within particular teams within particular fields - aren't given undue weight.
O.
