The year is 399 BC. You are Socrates. After a long life in your beloved city of Athens, dedicated to philosophy, you find yourself imprisoned. Tomorrow, you will stand public trial on charges of corrupting the youth and teaching that the gods do not exist. If you are found guilty, you will be executed. Your old friend Crito, a wealthy aristocrat, has come to visit you in jail, and has offered you safe passage out of the city. You say that you have made a promise to the city and its laws, and that following the law is obligatory to all citizens in a functioning society. Crito replies you will be given a safe and fulfilling life in Thessaly, where you can save your and your philosophy's reputation and teach new students. Whatever decision you make, your loyal followers and students will know.

Centralised religions are those where authority over doctrine, interpretation, and practice is concentrated in a formal hierarchy or institution (e.g. the Vatican in Catholicism).
Decentralised religions are those where authority is dispersed among local leaders, communities, or individuals, with no single body controlling belief or practice (e.g. most forms of Protestantism or Hinduism).

For the purposes of this debate, there are two approaches to interpreting and applying the law: In a positivist approach, higher court judges interpret law by assessing what the law actually says, or at least, what they believe the lawmakers intended it to mean. In a natural law approach, those judges may interpret law by assessing what the law morally ought to mean, i.e. what makes a good law.