No, the main reason is so that an internal short will go to ground.

Your chandelier example is a fine example of this. The chandelier was designed so that the neutral connector was connected to the metal body of the chandelier. This is required by electrical code (or some other law -- who knows?). If there was a short that connected the metal body to power, you need that power to go to ground, which the neutral conductor provides. If it is connected backwards, that short will remain live and people could easily get killed.

Of course, having the easily-touchable part of a lightbulb as neutral is not a bad side-effect of this.