Reply #46: My point was related to public figures, and I do think

[Mikimouse]

that my comparison is germane. A public servant has a responsibility to those whom he or she serves. Would you want the people teaching your impressionable children to teach them their opinions, or would rather they keep their opinions to themselves and teach the material? It equates to the same thing. May I suggest that you read the Social Psychology literature (Garfinkel)? It illustrates exactly what I am saying quite elegantly. People will almost always respond to the suggestions of those they perceive to be experts in their field. Even when the people later find out that the 'expert' was not such, many of them still stick by their original perceptions (sound familiar? That's why the comparison to * is germane).