The Christian Post weighs in:
The leader of a conservative Christian family organization has resigned from the non-profit after admitting to having an affair, however, he will still maintain ownership of the related for-profit company.
Doug Phillips, whose organization Vision Forum advocates for “Biblical patriarchy,” admitted to having committed a “serious sin” and claimed that he had confessed it his “wife and family, [his] local church, and the board of Vision Forum Ministries.”
“I engaged in a lengthy, inappropriate relationship with a woman. While we did not ‘know’ each other in a Biblical sense, it was nevertheless inappropriately romantic and affectionate,” wrote Phillips.
Despite the fact that Phillips asserted that he would no longer be “giving speeches or running conferences at this time of my life under the banner of VFI or VFM” and leading “a quiet life focusing on my family and serving as a foot soldier,” he also explained that he had not completely divorced himself from influence within the organization.
“I retain ownership of Vision Forum, Inc,” he wrote on the organization’s blog on November 6.
To read the rest of the article, which quotes one supporter and one ex-supporter, here is the rest of the article.
Jen's Gems -- Doug Phillips' Ecclesiastical Tyranny and Abuse 
November 11, 2013 at 12:47 am
Heather at http://becomingworldly.wordpress.com/2013/11/05/we-all-sin-a-15-step-path-to-forgiveness-for-doug-phillips/ has succinctly laid out a brilliant action plan for Doug Phillips for how he can be quickly restored to the ministry, picking right up where he let off. Rinse, lather, repeat. Her insight is so uncanny that it seems she’s reading directly out of Doug’s playbook.
Fifteen Steps to Forgiveness for Authoritarian Christian Leaders:
1.) Man gets caught with pants down
2.) Man denies it or provides excuses and pretends like everything is fine
3) Man is forced by elders/leaders/media/angry mob of former minions to fess up
4.) Man gives scripted apology admitting the bare minimum of what he did
5.) Man acts “chastened” and “humbled,” invokes his shame and regret at bringing shame on his family
6.) Man expresses how hard this is on him and his family, hoping to use the real and honest sympathy of listeners to get off easy
7.) Man indicates that he is being forgiven by his family and that you should forgive him too because “we all fall short”
8.) Man goes into semi-hiding for a bit, strategically releasing things that not-too-subtly serve as “proof” that he is hard at work improving himself and restoring relations with his family
9.) Man has his acolytes/minions/political and social circle defend his sullied reputation, calling anyone who mentions his indiscretion “bitter,” “spiteful,” having an “evil heart” and engaging in “casting stones”
10.) Man waits until anger at his behavior subsides, then finds an external source to tell his side of the story to, complete with a touching redemption narrative and supportive quotes from his relatives
11.) Man finds or continues a lower level job within his field and publicizes how happy and “humbled” working at it is making him
12.) Man resumes his old station or another one of similar stature, claiming greater wisdom from the whole experience and being “called to lead” once again
13.) Man accuses anyone mentioning his “fall” of not exhibiting proper forgiveness of sinners like Jesus instructs us to do
14.) Man is slightly more careful not to get caught doing whatever it was he did before
15.) Man uses his “everyman” status as a “fellow sinner who has seen the grace of God” to sell more stuff, people buy it, and he gets older and richer
November 11, 2013 at 2:01 pm
Heather must know the same Doug Phillips I know. I’m going to repost this so we can watch it in action over the next couple years.
November 11, 2013 at 9:56 am
Last Sunday Scott Brown preached a sermon at his church that seems to have been largely motivated by the “public sin”, as he calls it in his sermon, of Doug Phillips. I was expecting Doug Phillips’ close friend Scott Brown to shift blame, as Kevin Swanson did. But Brown doesn’t do that. Brown uses Doug as an object lesson in how not to live. Brown also makes it plain that Doug did not fall into sin but that he “cultivated” sin in his life by a series of compromise after compromise. I don’t know much about Scott Brown. He may be just as much of a hypocrite as Doug Phillips for all I know. But this sermon is spot on.
November 11, 2013 at 2:07 pm
Good for Scott Brown! I do not always agree with him, but he is DEAD on here! This has been gradually growing over many years, and there were many opportunities to flee in the opposite direction, but Doug Phillips chose not to.
This reminds me of another occasion where a girl at BCA got pregnant out of wedlock. When Doug brought her before the church to “confess her sin,” her father said something about the “devil sneaking in.” The slippery slope that led to her situation was never addressed and that was the last we ever heard about her “sin.” The father was never named and after that one day of “confession,” she was welcomed with open arms by all.
It was a very different response to her than it was to me. And very suspect as well.
November 11, 2013 at 3:12 pm
Jen, I just left a comment on Doug Wilson’s blog, which I’ll share here. It concludes with the quote from Scott Brown’s sermon that I’ve already posted here, above. In his article Doug WIlson criticizes “gleeful” bloggers and commenters. This is similar language to the reactions of Kevin Swanson and James and Stacey McDonald. At this junction though it seems that Doug Phillips has precious few Christian leaders and pastors who’ve been willing to stand with him. Even Doug Wilson isn’t showing any real support, just condemnation for those who would be pleased that Doug Phillips is finally being held accountable, at least in some small measure.
November 11, 2013 at 4:35 pm
TW, great comment on Doug Wilson’s blog. It is amazing how few of Doug’s compadres have stood by him publicly. Their silence speaks volumes.
Why did Doug Wilson condemn those who spoke against Doug Phillips? Perhaps his heart truly is in the right place, but take a look at this message that Doug Phillips was sending Doug Wilson:
http://www.visionforum.com/news/blogs/doug/default.aspx?path=/2013/11/10957/