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The DUmpster / Re: The Highs and Lows of Being a DUmmy
« Last post by SVPete on April 25, 2025, 05:24:09 PM »
How dare El Salvador think they are a sovereign country!!!11111111

Are Sarcasm tags necessary?
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General Discussion / Dying Denomination Abandons Global Missionary Effort
« Last post by SVPete on April 25, 2025, 04:30:50 PM »
Dying Denomination Abandons Global Missionary Effort

https://pjmedia.com/chris-queen/2025/04/25/progressive-denomination-abandons-global-missionary-efforts-n4939246

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Mainline Protestant denominations have been in steady decline for decades, and it’s largely due to the denominations’ embrace of theological liberalism. Trading in scriptural truth and sound doctrine for social justice and the cultural whims of the day is no way to reach people for Jesus — and it shows.

One denomination has made a massive move that shows how bad its decline is. The Presbyterian Church USA (PCUSA), a radically progressive denomination, is shutting down the vast majority of its global missionary operations.
...
The Presbyterian World Mission is laying off 54 of its 60 missionaries and is assigning 30 office staff to serve as “global ecumenical advisors” in the new organization, which weirdly sounds like a government agency. The PCUSA has seen a drop of over 10% in membership between 2020 and 2023, and the ensuing drop in tithes and offerings necessitated the change, in part. Other concerns include missionaries serving in dangerous areas.

“The denomination, due to budget cuts and changes in emphasis, now expects Christian work to be done mostly by indigenous leaders around the globe, rather than by U.S. missionaries sent to foreign countries,” Garrison reported. Parachurch organizations will take up some of the slack as well.

My thoughts on this are equivocal:

1. That PCUSA supports just 60 missionaries seems to suggest that, A, PCUSA does not believe they have a vital message to tell the world, and, B, PCUSA is not inspiring its members to go out into the world. Liberal theology, with all its rejections, has rejected the message that people need salvation and that there is a Christian life worth living.

2. Many parachurch ministries that PCUSA seems to think will pick up their slack are actually Evangelicals who communicate the messages that PCUSA has rejected. Larger examples that come to my mind quickly are Samaritan's Purse, World Vision, Youth With A Mission, and Mercy Ships; smaller Evangelical mission groups abound.

3. It's not a new idea that indigenous leaders are needed in churches. This was done by the 1st Century Apostles as they went about their part of the world. They took their message to cities, set up congregations, trained and appointed leaders, and then moved on, giving advice/correction by means of letters. This process kind of got lost in the 18th or 19th or previous centuries, but started being followed again in the 19th and 20th Centuries.

4. One of the ironies of mainline Protestant churches' century-plus descent into liberal theology (PCUSA is not alone in this descent) is that a bit over a century ago, as the Presbyterian and Methodist denominations in the US were picking and choosing teachings of Scripture to reject, missionaries of those churches still teaching the Gospel in Korea suddenly experienced many Koreans coming to faith in Jesus. Hopefully, despite some Presbyterians' concerns that missionaries won't be spreading their liberal gospel-surrogate, at least some of the 54 missionaries being cut loose by PCUSA were actually teaching the Gospel and will find means to continue their ministry.

5. The decline of mainline Protestant churches that embrace so many rejections of Scripture is bitter-sweet to me. At the surface level, their decline means fewer are hearing and embracing their Christianity-surrogate. At the congregations level, it means struggle and grief in pretty much every congregation. People who invested time, energy, and $$ - sometimes over several generations - into their congregation and their denomination are being driven out by actions and teachings they cannot support or even tolerate and congregational leaders they cannot follow. Individual decisions to leave happen after discussions/arguments and sometimes or often entail loss of friends. When congregations leave a denomination it often happens after working through a warehouse full of open 55-gallon drums of worms.
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The DUmpster / The Highs and Lows of Being a DUmmy
« Last post by BamaMoose on April 25, 2025, 04:25:31 PM »
So, in the wake of Senator Van Hollen getting his photo-op with Kilmar Abrego Garcia, four other Dem congress critters flew down to El Salvador on Monday hoping to ride on his coattails.  They were denied access to Garcia, didn't meet with any Salvadorian officials and were reduced to trying to look like they did something by delivering a "strongly worded" memo to the US Embassy.  After spending a night down there they all flew back on Tuesday accomplishing a grand total of nothing.  But a random Twitter post got the DUmmies all excited:

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riversedge (75,178 posts)

BREAKING: Democrat Rep. Maxine Dexter says she will NOT leave El Salvador until Kilmar Abrego Garcia returns to the
whow.

BREAKING: Democrat Rep. Maxine Dexter says she will NOT leave El Salvador until Kilmar Abrego Garcia returns to the United States.

https://x.com/krassenstein/status/1914628790925328760

The responses are predictable:

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InAbLuEsTaTe (25,104 posts)
2. This is what leadership looks like!!

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Ninga (8,830 posts)
6. I want to see this #1 on the top of the leaderboard!

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GoodRaisin (10,123 posts)
22. She is a very brave soldier for freedom. I salute her.

None of them seem to be able to explain how her sitting poolside sipping margaritas at a Hilton in El Salvador affects the situation, but at least some of recognize that she has a day job.

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Midwestern Democrat (886 posts)
8. Agreed. A US Congresswoman can't stay in El Salvador for months - she's going to have go back to Washington pretty soon

to serve her constituents.

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riversedge (75,178 posts)
12. She is serving her constituants even if they do not realize it at the moment.

I love when someone over there points out that some stunt the Dems pulled was stupid and useless only to get the condescending response that they aren't smart enough to comprehend the deeper significance of the stupid, useless stunt.

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RockCreek (974 posts)
34. Hunger strike in DC

Joined by others could be more effective.

Self-immolation is even more effective.

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Bonx (2,321 posts)
52. It looks like a beautiful country

And crime is now under control:
Travel Advisory April 8, 2025El Salvador - Level 1: Exercise Normal Precautions

Not sure if this a DUmmy being ironic or just stupid.  But then their righteous bubble gets burst:

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republianmushroom (19,570 posts)
55. Bet she does leave El Salvador before Garcia is released.

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Sneederbunk (16,065 posts)
69. She arrived home today.

Yep, the whole time they were applauding her bravery to hang out in El Salvador fighting for immigrant rights she was on a flight back to the US.  They love to claim what critical thinkers they are, but they fall for every little bit of fake news and random false tweets.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100220259898

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The DUmpster / Re: Found on Bluesky
« Last post by jukin on April 25, 2025, 03:01:25 PM »
Calling them DUmbasses and DUchebags and DUmmys and DUlusional does these low IQ people any justice.  Without government and the good will of people with a 100+ IQ and they would all be dead. Which I am in favor of.
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Politics / Re: Hoax After Hoax After Hoax
« Last post by ADsOutburst on April 25, 2025, 02:27:36 PM »
There are lies, damned lies, and things Democrats say.
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The DUmpster / Re: DUmmies all anxious about what the world thinks of US
« Last post by BannedFromDU on April 25, 2025, 02:27:10 PM »

     There is a saying for insecure assholes like the DUmmies: "If you knew how infrequently other people thought about you, you wouldn't worry what they think."
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The DUmpster / Re: DUmmies all anxious about what the world thinks of US
« Last post by ADsOutburst on April 25, 2025, 02:19:17 PM »
Dear world citizens:

If you don't like what we're doing, imagine what things would be like without us.
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General Discussion / Re: Hoe. Lee. Shit! FBI arrests WI judge for obstruction
« Last post by SVPete on April 25, 2025, 02:10:14 PM »
This article gives an account of Judge Dugan's failed shenanigans, https://hotair.com/john-s-2/2025/04/25/another-judge-arrested-for-obstructing-an-immigration-arrest-n3802135 . Basically, the ICE agents were recognized and Dugan was made aware of their presence. She went out to challenge their authority and sent part of the ICE arrest team to another floor in the building to speak with the chief judge. Returning to her courtroom, she rushed through her proceeding with Flores-Ruiz, and when finished ushered him and his attorney through a room not normally accessed by defendants which had a different exit to the hallway in which the rest of the ICE arrest team were waiting. They spotted him, he tried to flee, and they caught him before he could exit the building.
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General Discussion / Re: Hoe. Lee. Shit! FBI arrests WI judge for obstruction
« Last post by DefiantSix on April 25, 2025, 01:40:51 PM »
Ahhh...

I just love happy endings, especially the kind that makes my schaden-boner hard enough to shatter diamonds with.  :-)

Suck it, lurking DUmp'Rats...  :fuelfire:
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The DUmpster / Re: just passed
« Last post by BannedFromDU on April 25, 2025, 01:32:27 PM »
I was getting 502, Bad Gateway errors, so I didn't know my comment had posted and did multiple refreshes. I cleaned up my messes.


     I dribbled a little bit this morning and had to do some cleanup myself. ^5
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