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.

This Fundamentalist Age

Somewhere back in my youth, I made choices which created distance between my church/family and myself. I was reared as a fundamentalist Baptist and my choices, which arose out of a sincere piety, ended up being a pathway to liberal thought. At the base of it all was a story from the life of Jesus where a Talmudic scholar asked him what was the greatest commandment and Jesus responded that it was to love God with all your soul and that the second greatest commandment was to love your neighbor as yourself. Then Jesus stated that all of the Law and the Prophets are based on those two. (cf. Matthew 22:34-40) The Apostle Paul went a step further when he declared that all the commandments are summed up in the following words, "Love your neighbor as yourself." (Romans 13:9) Thus, Paul's statement omitted the first commandment and thus defined religion in one sentence.

To me that sounded both simple and right. Furthermore it offered a benchmark against which we can judge theological debate and behavior. Love of God and neighbor, whenever the pious lose sight of these two commandments and become hateful or fearful, they have clearly lost their way. So I made those my operating principles and took my first giant step away from fundamentalism. It never occurred to me at the time that my decision would create any problems with either my family or church. However, my spiritual journey began that day and it has broadened me beyond my imagination.

However, from the 60's to the present, America and the world has gone in the opposite direction. The people, the traditions and mindsets I left behind have triumphed politically and materially not just among Christians, but also among Jews and Muslims. Fear, hatred, greed and cynicism have triumphed as a means of trying to protect certain traditions against change. We need to think about this and the kind of people we as a society are becoming. We need to challenge the pious with their own teaching and reverse their direction. To put it into religious language, they need to repent.