Taxes, Ireland, Apple, and Corporate Welfare

Apple’s tax bill to Ireland came to almost zero.

So, we get a glimpse of what corporate welfare looks like.

The European Union (EU) has accused Ireland of making a deal with Apple that resulted in Apple paying next to nothing in taxes.  Apparently normal tax rules were not applied to Apple.  Thus, the EU is accusing Ireland of entering into an illegal agreement with Apple, giving the corporation illegal State aid.

Whether Apple/Ireland wins or loses their case, as to its legality or illegality, is open to question.  But the fact is this: Apple paid nearly zero taxes to Ireland in certain years!

This is why it gets to me when here in the US our Congressional or State representatives block or cut State and/or Federal Aid to the poor and/or other social benefitting programs, touting umpteen financial, ethical, moral, and political reasons as to why the government should NOT subsidize social welfare, while at the same time quite easily and most readily earmark government tax breaks and other economic incentives to powerful corporations, which effectively provides huge amounts of corporate-welfare money to very wealthy companies.

They defend these economic incentives to wealthy corporations saying that the companies will bring in new jobs, sparking economic growth.  And the truth is that they seldom ever fulfill such grandiose promises.  However, the one promise that these companies do keep is to fund the re-election campaign for the representative who gave them the tax break.

To believe or say that the only right and proper way to grow an economy is by giving wealthy corporations huge tax breaks while denying funding for social welfare programs (such as educational advancement and nutritional programs for underprivileged kids, health care programs, various rehab programs, not to mention funding for municipal infrastructural needs), and then to say that such denial is in the best interest of economic recovery, is pure nonsense.  It is a skewed myopic perspective motivated by the self-interest of the powerful wealthy that is detrimental to the commonwealth community as a whole.

Yet this is done over and over again, with self-ingratiating justification and no apologies.  Another example would be the corporate welfare monies that the oil fracking companies in Pennsylvania received from the previous administration, by way of direct and indirect tax-relief incentives and other economic advantages provided.

Hence, whether the Ireland/Apple tax-break deal was legit or illegit, legal or illegal, is not the real issue.  The real issue is that in general rich, wealthy, and powerful companies like Apple continue to get away with paying little or no taxes at all, failing to pay their fair share of taxes to their communities, such that the overwhelming tax burden more pointedly falls squarely on the shoulders of the already overtaxed and financially weakening middle class—so that the rich get richer, the poorer get poorer and the gap between the rich and the poor continues to grow!

And THAT is a problem that needs to be addressed head on—politically, economically, socially, locally, and globally.

Critique of the Self-Made Man/Woman

Self-made, are you?

Americans take pride in self-made types: the do-it-yourself, go-it-alone, I-did-it-my-way guy, especially when it comes to money, as in the self-made millionaire.

But what exactly does it mean to be self-made?

No helping hand, no guidance, no assistance or support or instruction from others along the way, is that what it means?  I doubt it.

My guess is that it would be safe to say that the greatest of men or women were those who were NOT isolated or alone in the making.  They connected or bonded with someone special in their lives.  And they were most likely lovingly mentored.

Indeed, most biographies of great men and women will often point to a special someone in their lives giving encouragement—inspiring, motivating, and/or instilling hope in them.  They were NOT alone.   There was someone there, cheering them on, routing for them, believing in them, providing moral support, if not actual guidance and direction.

And there is no shame in that.  Indeed, anyone with good sense would consider it an honor to receive that kind of focus and attention towards one’s personal development by another.

The point is that we need to value more the very idea and practice of mentoring.

As a society, we value personal growth.  We acknowledge the importance of personal development and maturity.  (At least I assume and hope that we do.)  But we also value our independence and our freedom to “be myself.”  So much so that we may ignore the fact that to become one’s true SELF actually requires meaningful input from significant others; and here is where quality input from a valued mentor becomes extraordinarily valuable.

We need mentoring or some kind of guidance and instruction along the way of upward growth and constructive development.   Here’s why.

For one, we learn who we are by engaging with others, bumping into, responding to, reacting to, and/or imitating the other with whom we closely identify; consciously or subconsciously accepting or rejecting their values and practices along the way.  That is, we develop within a social relational context.

Secondly, we don’t always see what we need to see without someone holding a mirror up to us.  That is, we also learn to know our selves’ best when others mirror back to us what they see in us, good, bad or indifferent.  Obviously, it is best to learn the hard truth about ourselves from someone who loves us, having our best interest in mind.  Authentic love is not afraid to tell us what’s wrong with us, what we may be doing wrong, where our weaknesses lie.  We shouldn’t be averse to hearing it from such a person either.  It’s for our own good—development.

Thirdly, we can’t possibly always anticipate and know what it is that we need to know, or where to get that knowledge or info when we discover that there is a flagrant gap in our experiential/knowledge base.  Very few of us, if any, are trailblazers in knowledge; others have gone before us and know the way to get there.  This is where real guidance and direction is helpful.  For example, there is a reason why all good athletes have excellent coaches.  There is no sense in re-inventing the wheel considering that someone has already “been there/done that” before us.

This is just a short list as to why we need input/mentoring from others when aspiring to do well in developing into solid human beings of value and significance.  This of course presumes willingness on our part: that we are humble and teachable, for example, and are able to invite others into our personal lives to get under our skin and to provide constructive criticism, trusting them to have our best interest in mind.

Because, in the end, our truest value and worth actually does not come from the amount of money we make and leave behind, or in the number of awards we may have won in our careers, or in the many titles we have earned to attach to our name.  Rather, our truest value is in the many people we have touched in an enduring and positive way because of who we ourselves have become.

Rio Olympics and The Lochte Case

How old is Ryan Lochte?  I hear he’s thirty-two.  That is, he’s in his early thirties.  Thirties!  And this is his behavior?

The incident with Ryan Lochte in Rio made me think of other times when other athletes and/or entertainment celebrities of various types (singers, actors, or musicians, for example) have gotten into trouble.

At quick glance, an immediate observation that I’d make, as an outsider looking in on these various “another celebrity in trouble” incidents, is the common denominator of the childishness and immaturity of the initial misbehavior that triggers the media spotlight on them, questioning their judgment and character.

I especially find it interesting that some celebrities reactively choose to defy the assumption that, because they are celebrities, they are expected to be good role models.  Their defiant attitude goes something like this: “I didn’t ask to be a role model.  I don’t want to be a role model.  And I don’t have to be a role model to anyone.  So, don’t lay that burden on me!”

Back to Ryan Lochte, I have no idea what his attitude is, respecting the public expectation that he should be a good role model as an Olympic star athlete.  He may accept this, he may not; I don’t know.  What I DO know is that, celebrity or not, his age (32) in and of itself demands that he should be a good role model.  In short, he’s all grown up.  He’s a man.  He’s well beyond his adolescent years.  As a full fledge adult, he should act like one.

Don’t get me wrong; even adults need to let their hair down, have fun, and be a kid again, so to speak.  I get it.  There’s a kid in all of us, or there should be—and that’s a good thing.  We should all stay young at heart.

But—okay, at this point I realize that I am risking the chance of sounding like an old fuddy-duddy—it seems to me that our society is trending toward extending adolescence well beyond the teen years, into the twenties, and even into the thirties.  What used to be considered adolescent antics, in thinking and behavior, has now become the norm for twenty and thirty something year-olds!  Or is it just me?  Please don’t tell me that I’m just an old stick-in-the-mud.

Recently, my three-year-old granddaughter has picked up on the difference between being a “grown-up” and being a “kid.”  So, she made the following profound observation: “Mommy is a ‘grown-up,’ so is Daddy.  Mom-Mom and Pop-Pop [that would be me] are ‘grown-ups’ too; but I’m just a kid.”  That’s my granddaughter for you!  She tends to make life observations like that.

What she didn’t say, yet I know she’s thinking and observing, is that kids don’t act like grown-ups and grown-ups don’t act like kids; they’re different.  And she most certainly instinctively understands what that “difference” is; it goes something like this: “grown-ups are responsible for us kids, they show us the way, teach us, and protect us; I am learning how to be a person by watching the grown-ups around me.”

An adult that normatively functions as an adolescent is suffering from arrested development, is emotionally, psychologically, and/or mentally stunted.  Sure, most if not all of us adults may regress from time to time, have moments when we react or behave immaturely.  Still, few adults would like to be viewed as childish and immature in the long run.

Yet it seems that that’s where so many of our celebrities are—in arrested development.  I admit, this is just an impression, not probably true in actual percentages or numbers.  Still, there seems to be enough adolescent acting celebrities out there that the impression is there!  Men and women in their twenties, and sometimes even well into their thirties, that seem to have remained in permanent adolescent mode, given the immaturity of their personal and/or social behavior as highlighted in newsreels.

I have to ask: Why is that?

Is it possible that we’ve so glamorized youth, coupled with the assumed freedom to “do to as I very well damn please,” that we no longer value or even understand actual wisdom and maturity?  In short, are we raising a generation of young people that no longer view the aging/maturing process as a good thing?  Aging is bad!  And, if aging is bad, so is the wisdom and maturity that goes along with it.  Message: Don’t grow up!  Stay young.  Consequence: remain an adolescent in your thinking, attitude, and behavior.  Apparently arrested development is a good thing these days.

Words Matter!

What we say, how we say it, why we say it—it matters!

Words influence.  And when someone is moved to take action by someone’s words, the words themselves are the source of said action.  In other words, words DO!  Thoughts become words, words become deeds.

“Your word is my command,” ever hear that?  Have you ever said that to someone (light heartedly, of course), when that someone has asked you to do something?  “Just say the word, and I shall do it.”

Words are not empty sounds that disappear into nothingness.  That’s why we have a cautionary saying: “Be careful what you say, for you can’t take it back.”  Words have impact.  That’s why we have another saying: “Think, before you speak!”  Or, “Think about what you’re saying.”

Words carry meaning, signal intent, and even shape our reality.  Words are evocative and translate ideas into suggestive action.  They bark out orders and assert demands.  They invite response or command obedience.  Words can be dangerous!

Officials, people in positions of responsibility, speak with power and effect.  “Stop right there!” shouts a police officer, and most people stop.  As to those who don’t, they know that they are in active rebellion against a rightful authoritative spoken word.

Words are also inexact.  They can be confusing.  There is such a thing as double entendre, double meaning.  Indeed, words have multiple meanings; may even sound exactly the same while having exact opposite meanings: raise the barn or raze the barn, build up or take down, which is it?  We must choose our words carefully.

I could go on about words.  Suffice it to say that this is why a president, or any elected official for that matter, must speak rightly, carefully, meaningfully, and with as much precision as to intent and purpose as possible.  There is too much at stake—in terms of national security, international affairs, or economic stability, and so on and so forth—for a president’s words to be misunderstood or misinterpreted or mistakenly taken!

So, yes, a good president must weigh his/her words carefully.  Of course, he/she must mean what he says and say what he means, by speaking with clarity and accuracy, avoiding unnecessary confusion whenever possible.  The president is a statesman (/woman), not a comedian and so shouldn’t act or speak like a comedian.  To say, “I was only kidding,” or “I was simply being ironic,” in the aftermath of much confusion or much offense taken by a listening populace, just doesn’t cut it.  There is no excuse for foolish innuendo, silly irony, or petty joking around with loaded words or the imprecise use of words in anyone who aspires to hold the highest office in the land.

Liars All?

I read somewhere a while back that the majority of Americans take it for granted, that is, actually expect that politicians lie.  It’s politics!

Yet, we also get angry and reactive when a politician is caught in a bald face lie.

No, let me be more specific.

When caught in a lie, we eagerly attack our political opponent’s candidate with scathing judgment and condemnation of him or her while at the same time we readily overlook and/or minimize the lies made by our own favored candidate.

It’s a simple double standard formula: If we don’t like the candidate, we pronounce, accentuate, and condemn every lie, however small, however big; on the other hand, if we like the candidate, we excuse any and all lies as insignificant and forgivable.

Why do we do this?  First, we want what we want and we humans tend to do anything it takes to get what we want—even if it means lying or cheating or cutting corners and/or misleading, as in leaving things out and failing to tell the whole story, or exaggerating and over embellishing.

Secondly, we feel more in control when we lie.  Emphasis is on “feel.”  Fact is, we generally lose control when we lie, for we more often than not become victims of our own duplicitous behavior.  Yet, when we lie we feel as if we are controlling the situation, managing and maintaining our reputations, our personal interests, our ego & pride, or are containing our influence over others and/or our control over events and their possible outcome.  In that sense, lying is a means to an end, a tool, or a weapon and/or defense mechanism.  In short, we believe that lying works!

The trouble is that lying often IS effective—in the short run!  And that’s what reinforces the tendency/temptation for us to lie.

And who hasn’t lied?  Indeed, some of our greatest personal injuries have occurred when we have discovered that our closest friend or confidant or loved one, someone we truly respected and trusted as unquestionably trustworthy, has lied to us.  Now THAT hurts!  That adds to the problem.  Furthermore, if we’ve lied to others, we assume or expect that others will also lie to us; or, if others have lied to us, we feel more justified in lying to others.

Of course this is why the question of character is always raised in a political campaign.  Is he/she honest, trustworthy and true to his/her word?  But we started off by admitting that most of us already expect political candidates to lie?  So what do we mean by the question of trustworthiness in a political candidate, if we already assume that all political candidates (left or right) lie?

Furthermore, if that’s the case, why stop at the character of the candidate?  What about the character of the voter?  Are we willing to have our chosen candidate win by any means and at any cost—even if it means by lying, cheating, and misleading along the way?  If so, what does that say about us and our national character as a whole?

Studies have shown that most people either ignore or proactively resist revealing discrepancies found by “fact-check” reports against a candidate, if it is a candidate that they favor.  That is, if a fact-check report reveals egregious lies and half-truths and/or great errors in a favored candidates speech, for example, the attitudinal response of that candidate’s supporter goes something like this: “I don’t want to hear about it?” or “The fact-check report itself is a lie!”  In short, we don’t want to know the truth, if the truth goes against our own desired interests.  So be it.

It is no wonder that Jesus the Christ said, when speaking of the evil one: “When he lies, he speaks according to his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies” (John 8:44).

The Biblical (Gospel) message: God is Truth.  So, even if we only tell a so-called little white lie, we fall short of God’s righteous perfection.  Indeed, you and I fall short of God’s purity, holiness, goodness, and righteous all the time.  This is why we humans tend to mess things up so badly, in whatever arena we may speak of—political, economic, social, etc.  We have character issues.  This is why we need a Savior and why it is that Christians point to Jesus as our needed Lord and Savior.  For, given our human nature, we’re certainly not going to perfect the world on our own; just look at what we have to work with—look at the world's condition right now and compare it to any century prior to this one and you know what I’m talking about; we've not improved a bit, have we?

The Lost Message of Christ in Today’s Political Arena

The Gospel: boring, irrelevant, outdated, unnecessary?

But what is the Gospel Message?

You’d think it has something to do with the American Dream as in “God Bless America!”  You’d think it has something to do with the ultra conservative right wing branch of the Republican Party, a la Ted Cruz.  You’d think that it has something to do with anti-communism, Laissez-Faire Capitalism, or name-it and claim-it economic prosperity.  You’d think it has something to do with power, independence, individual freedom, and the right to happiness.  You’d think that the Gospel was tailor-made for America so as to be “a shinning city upon a hill” to the rest of the world.

You’d think.

For, when the Gospel is couched in patriotic terms, embedded in American values, wrapped in the American Flag as it were and presented as the American Dream, the Gospel glitters and dazzles with glorious applause: “America!!  Isn’t she great?!  That’s what we’re talking about.  Preach it brother!  Spread the Good News—freedom, liberty, wealth and prosperity!  America the Beautiful!  Now, that’s a Gospel message worth talking about!  And cursed be anyone who preaches a different Gospel than that!”

Really?

In actuality, the Gospel of Christ has little to do with the American Dream and most certainly has nothing to do with American politics, the American Way, or American Nationalistic Patriotism.  Yet, somehow many Christians express their Christian faith with patriotic sentiments as if the Gospel and the American Dream were one and the same.  How odd.  For, to do so, is in fact to preach a false Gospel.

In truth, generally speaking, the actual Gospel message, when authentically and sincerely shared, is either ignored, unwelcomed, contested, and/or rejected as irrelevant, narrow-minded, pie-in-the-sky, head in the clouds, outdated matter that has little place in today’s Modern World.

The true Gospel of Christ is first and foremost about God, not wealth and prosperity, not American Nationalism, not liberty and the pursuit of happiness.  It is about God who is righteous, holy, good, and just.  It is about God as Creator, master and lord of the universe.  And it is about humanity’s relationship to God.

According to Gospel Truth, humans are creatures, made by God, made in God’s image.  Humans therefore owe God respect and adoration.  Humans are to rightly worship God.  And thus, the Gospel is about judgment and condemnation—God’s judgment and God’s condemnation of rebellion and wrongdoing and sin and evil.  That is why the Gospel is most pointedly about salvation.  God saving humanity from its own self-condemning acts of rebellion, distrust and disbelief in God’s Goodness, righteousness, and justice.

And so, the Gospel has little to do with American politics or American social economic agenda, as such.  Yes, the Gospel has implications that affect a person’s mindset, attitude, and values, which in effect give shape to one’s thinking and behavior as a citizen of his/her country—whatever country that may be.  But the Gospel is not about one’s nation or country or one’s government.  Rather, it is about a Kingdom that is not of this world—the Kingdom of God.  And it is about a King that stands apart from and above all other earthly rulers—the Lordship of Christ.  And most importantly, it is about humanity being held accountable to God for falling short when measured against God’s goodness, holiness, justice, and truth—God’s Glory.

But here’s the thing, American Christians bemoan the fact that the church and Christianity no longer has the dominant sway and influence over American society that it use to have and once took for granted.

I suggest that the reason for the decline in Christianity’s influence in American society is twofold: (1) Christians have wrongly merged the Christian faith with American patriotism, making it feel to others (especially non-religious type) as if the Christian agenda is supposed to be more authentically “American” than any other agenda, for defining American principles  values  and practices.  And (2) there is a growing lack of belief in God, coupled with a growing variety of Faiths in God, in American society, such that, the Gospel message of Christianity is more and more viewed as too narrow or exclusive (and therefor unacceptable) by more Americans than ever before.

I would therefore suggest that Christians would have a better chance of being heard again, and being respected again for the content of their faith and practices, if they correct the error by UN-coupling American political agenda with the Gospel of Christ.  That is, the Gospel of Christ must be separated from American political nationalism so as to be authentically heard again.

In other words, the Gospel must stand on its own terms and have its own voice again.  America is NOT God’s Promise Land and US political agenda need not cater to Kingdom of Christ principles, values, and practices in order for the Gospel to remain relevant.  Christians are sojourners, citizens of the Kingdom of God, and must therefore act as such.  It is a citizenship of a higher calling, calling for a higher level of living, and should have a deeper impact upon human lives than that of any earthly political party, left or right.

Terrorists and Paradise

Okay, first of all, I have no problem using the phrase, Radical Islamic Terrorism.  Whether it’s ISIS or any other self-identified radical Islamic group of that kind, if they themselves assert Islam as their faith and call their movement an Islamic movement and yet are willing to use terrorist tactics, such as Suicide Bombers, as a means to their end, then, yes, they are Radical Islamic Terrorists, setting aside any super-imposed pressure to speak the language of political correctness.

It would be no different if there were a group identifying themselves as Fundamental Christians who used terroristic methods to gain influence and spread their message by terroristic tactics.  They too would be rightly called, Extreme or Radical Christian Terrorists.  True: Mainstream Christians would disavow them as true Christians, and rightly so.  But it would not change the fact that the group itself see themselves as believing in and acting from a self-embraced identity and conviction as fundamentally Christian.  And so, I’m not going to argue against the fact that Radical Islamic Terrorists are acting out of a self-defined Islamic Faith and Mindset.

In fact, I would argue that it is best to accept their self-identity as fundamental followers of Islam than to deny it.  For, it would help us to better understand why they act as they do.

The Modern Day Suicide Terrorist Bomber has two common threads in his (or her) thinking: (1) an utter conviction that he has nothing to lose, and (2) the passionate belief that he has everything to gain by his extreme sacrifice—to blow him/herself up for the cause!

Here the old saying is true: Beware of the opponent that believes he/she has nothing to lose and everything to gain when fighting against you.   For, there are very few, if any, bargaining chips available for you to use for negotiation.  It’s an all or nothing proposition.   This is why merely matching or trying to overpower force with force and gun with gun fails us in the battle against terrorism.

The Suicide Bomber is committing an act of faith.  Hence the battle is one of heart and soul, which is one of the most difficult kinds of conflicts to engage in.  If I believe that God will reward me in heaven for my action(s) on earth, no matter how savage or horrendous those acts may seem in the eyes of others, there is very little that will effectively stop me, not even, or most especially not, the threat of death—short of a religious conversion or change of heart and conviction.

The Radical Islamic Suicide Bomber, believing he/she has nothing to lose, is convinced that he/she has God’s approval and will thus gain Paradise in the afterlife.  It’s as simple as that.  Thus, only one thing needs to change in that person’s thinking: the belief that God approves, and therefore will reward such action.   We know this, but somehow we’re not using this knowledge effectively.

Whenever a Radical Islamic Suicide Bomber takes lives—at an airport, in a shopping mall, or on the streets of a busy city intersection, for example—Western Statesmen and women immediately call their actions reprehensible, cowardly, murderous, savage, inhuman, and culpable.  And the Terrorists couldn’t care less!  Such name calling doesn’t faze them a bit.  In their minds, they are doing a Holy, honorable, God glorifying deed.  As they see it, they are bringing honor and praise not only to their God but to themselves.  Seeing themselves as extensions of God’s arm, they believe that they are doing God a favor.  Most importantly they see themselves as Martyrs.  And Martyrs of God are always one step above the average devotee of any religious faith—even in the Christian faith.

They are first and foremost Believers!  They do what they believe.  Thus, their actions will change only when the substance of their faith changes.

Therefore, it does not help to deny what they themselves own as their self-identifying faith.  They see themselves as true adherents to Islam, the truest!  Whether they claim to be Islamic Fundamentalists or the true inheritors of a pure Islamic State, their core belief is that God is on their side and that they are doing God’s will in the name of Islam.  Thus, this must be our beginning point in understanding them. 

Now what?  Conversion, that’s what.  Radical Islamic Terrorists movements are converting young people everywhere, using any and all means at their disposal.  And we wonder and are amazed that they can be so effective in making converts.  But why are we so amazed?  I’ll tell you.  It is because we citizens of Western Civilization are ourselves unconverted people.  We have no clue.  We have no idea what it means to believe, no idea what conversion feels like or what it looks like from the inside out.

We are sold on Western Civilization’s values and priorities and practices.  We believe that we’ve got it right, and we question anyone who questions our values and our chosen ways and means to sustain them.  The people in Western nations also assume that they are just, fair, even-handed, equitable, and trustworthy, as nations go.

Yet, in reality the world nations of any size, type, and kind can be and often are quite unjust and unfair.  The super-rich continue to increase in power and wealth while everyone else languishes in a stupor of economic straights and financial debt.  And it’s only getting worse.  Rich powerful countries rape the resources of smaller weaker States.  Wealthy powerful nations align themselves with any government that willingly supply they’re wants, no matter how corrupt, unjust, and oppressive that government may be to its own people.  And the list goes on.

This is why people, especially the weak, the poor, the suppressed and/or oppressed, find solace in the belief that there will be a Judgment Day, a Day of Reckoning, and that there is hope and consolation in a God-given promise of Heaven or Paradise beyond this life.  Such belief energizes and enables defiance against perceived enemies. 

Even in Christianity, at the heart of the Gospel message of Salvation in Christ, is the promise of Eternal Life in the Kingdom of God—a Kingdom of peace, justice, and righteousness where there will be no more tears, no more death, no more pain or mourning and crying (see Revelation 21:1-5).  This is great news for people suffering a lifetime of grievous injustice and oppression (economic or otherwise) at the hands of humanly constructed political & economic systems and governments.

Yet, most modern day Westerners tend to pooh-pooh such beliefs in heaven and hell, or Judgment Day or a Day of Reckoning.  They also therefore fail to understand its power and its driving force.  “God saves!”  “God is good!”  “God is great!”  These are words of faith and words of hope.  They are empowering words, assertive and striking in their promise of victory against Infidels and Unbelievers—those believed to be the perpetrators of the injustice and evil that is in the world.

This is why the work of conversion is necessary.  Not a conversion to secularism, capitalism, or democracy, but a conversion to believe in a God of mercy, compassion, and grace.  What they fail to see is that their god is as evil, unjust, cruel, and oppressive as any of the nations or organizations or governments they presently seek to destroy.  They are in fact following a false god.

The question is this: how can we help them see the light and open their eyes to their present blindness.  For with their mouths they proclaim God is great, God is merciful; yet, they act as if God is as mean-spirited, ugly, cruel, and oppressive as any heartless human dictator.  They need to be converted themselves, to see that God does NOT approve of their ways and that their actions will bring them anything but Paradise.  They are doomed to lose heaven and earth.