Time and Chance

Again I saw that under the sun the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to the intelligent, nor favor to the skillful; but time and chance happen to them all. (Ecclesiates 9:11, New Oxfored Annotated Bible)

This is a rarely quoted verse, not cited because the idea runs contrary to what we expect from religion. And from the clerics point of view, it undermines a large portion of moral teaching. Most of the Bible assures us that if we obey God's commandments, we are guaranteed to prosper (cf. Deuteronomy 29:9) We want to believe that religion makes us better people and that society improves because of God's influence. Indeed that is the idea behind fundamentalism's political involvement in the world today.

Yesterday, I was reading an article from Newsweek (cf. Newsweek, "Furture Perfect" by Geneive Abdo, November 18, 2009)which was reporting that the theological ideals upon which the Iranian Islamic State was established thirty years ago are now being questioned because having a religious leader control politics has not ushered in an era of peace and justice as promised. The opposite has happened and even seminarians in Iran, after last June's brutal suppression of oppostiion forces and cynical manipulation of the election have come around to admitting their new system does not prevent corruption and persecution.

Perhaps the religious right in the United States should take notice as they strive to gain control of our government. Do we have to learn all over again from bitter experience that religion and politics, religion and economics, religion and justice don't always function well together? And the reason is hinted at by Ecclesiastes - this world is ruled by time and chance. Jesus put it another way when he said that the sun shines on the just and the unjust alike. (cf. Matthew 5:45) The Deuteronomy guarantee of temporal success arising out of moral obedience is not the truth.