All is Vanity Including Politics

Theology and Politics from a Conservative, Biblical Perspective

Leaving our ongoing commentary on Ecclesiastes aside for a moment, I wanted to broach the subject of politics and the fact that, in keeping with Solomon’s reasoning, it also is utter futility and vanity. Why do I say that?

To be sure, the tone of society is often directly affected either positively or negatively because of politics. We know that in many ways, politics – when done correctly by human standards – can create a safer society, a better society, a more profitable society. However, history has provided many examples of how politics can negatively impact and even destroy a society.

But aside from all of this, one other fact remains. Politics has no eternal value in and of itself. In fact, most of the time, it seems to lack and secular value because no sooner is someone elected to a political post when it becomes common to hear watch them go back on the very promises that they used in the hopes of being elected in the first place. Moreover, it has become way too common today to hear of one politician after another become “sponsored” by some lobbyist who represents some large corporation. When I say “sponsored,” I’m talking about being bought.

Because all politicians are human beings first, and fallen ones at that, it is clear that there is little to nothing that keeps them from falling prey to corruption that is so often found within the political system. No matter how well-meaning a person starts out to be, it is often the case that people are bent to political whims of this corporation or that one because it is extremely difficult to get elected to office today without having a large “war chest” of money that allows a person to run a successful campaign.

Look around you and whether it’s any small town in the USA or a congress person elected to the congressional branch of the federal government, the truth is that people are too often easily snared into questionable and even illegal activities as politicians because corporations often use them to promote their agendas. Most politicians seem all too willing to comply and cater in exchange for “donations.”

In the end, even on a good day, do politicians accomplish anything that has eternal value? The answer to that question is, as Solomon would say, it’s all vanity, utter futility.

Where are the individuals like George Washington who did not want to be president for a second term? Today, too many see political ambitions as a way to help themselves and their friends. How is possible for senators and legislators alike in the federal government to become multi-millionaires during the course of their tenure as career politicians? They are supposed to be serving the needs of the public, yet too often, they serve their own needs by scratching the backs of corporate hustlers who do whatever they can (usually with tremendous amounts of donated money), to gain and keep the loyalty of various politicians because in the end, those politicians will help create and pass laws that benefit not the public in general, but the large corporations.

Without legislatures to pass laws making it mandatory that all children receive vaccinations, how would Big Pharma be guaranteed money? Without these same politicians working hard on behalf of the Big Food industry – most often companies that deal in genetically modified organisms (GMOs) – how would these food corporations be guaranteed millions in revenues each year?

The truth of the matter is that no matter how genuine or benevolent a person’s motives for wanting to get into politics, it really doesn’t take much for the average politician to learn to turn a blind eye to the things that corporations want/need done in order to stay in and grow their businesses. It seems to be a matter of time for most who enter the field of politics.

I’ve written many articles on how detrimental Big Food companies have made the foods we eat today. All the processing, the preservatives, the fillers, the dyes, and even additives like High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) and preservatives like BHA, or sodium nitrates/nitrites, does tremendous harm to the human digestive system. Our bodies can only do so much in the best of times and most people simply don’t take the necessary care of themselves to be and remain healthy. They eat whatever is provided by Big Foods. When they become sickened because of it, no worries, because doctors are right there ready to reach for their prescription pads to prescribe medications that have some degree of toxicity to our bodies.

I’m not saying that all medicine is bad, nor am I saying that all foods are bad. What I am saying is that it has become way too easy for people today who become politicians to think first of larger companies and corporations and how they can serve them. This is to the detriment of the average person. In the end, take the time to consider what comes out of most government bureaus today. More paperwork, red tape, and the further erosion of people’s rights, all for the alleged “greater good.” In the end, how does any of this rise above mediocrity or what Solomon would refer to as vanity or utter futility?

The short answer is that none of it rises above anything. All of it is done for self-aggrandizement and that is the same problem that Solomon saw so clearly during his day. Because of politicians and politics today, the very life of the average person is being sucked out of them. We are being legislated to death all in the name of emotional virtue, another name for political correctness.

In so many ways, all people on earth are biding their time. Though most are not aware of it, we wait for the next life and those who have trusted Christ as Savior will learn what life was truly meant to be before the Fall occurred. We will – at that point – have our sin natures permanently removed from us so that there will never even the potential of even considering the “merits” of temptation so that we again fall. It won’t happen.

In the meantime, it is our job to understand our mission while here on this earth. That job is to spread the gospel so that others who do not know Jesus will have opportunity to hear the truth.

Solomon continues to point out through Ecclesiastes that all is vanity. What he means by that is that all caters to self. Everything people do is designed for some sort of self-aggrandizement. But there is a way out from underneath that and he will tell us as we continue through Ecclesiastes. It’s not hopeless. In fact, the truth he brings to the fore if followed releases us from the cares and concerns of this world.

We’ll continue in our study of Ecclesiastes next time.

Theology and Politics from a Conservative, Biblical Perspective