A friend of mine once tried to rationalize the Chapel's trashing ability as representing "atoning for your sins," this makes sense with the Bishop too, if it represents confessing to a Bishop (this is an idea found in Catholic, Orthodox, and several protestant branches of Christianity). Not that the game has any hidden religious message or anything like that!
The Bureaucrat ties up people's property in red tape, freezing their assets for a while, and somehow (legally or otherwise) acquires money, which itself takes some time to free up.
Two cards I don't really get are Feast and Talisman. Maybe you form new connections at the Feast, which is a one-time thing, so you get to know a Governor, Witch, or Mandarin, you hear about a Festival, or you've invited the whole City, or manage to make a deal to get a Duchy there? And maybe the Talisman is magical?