Oh Yeah, That’s Totally Repentance

As I noted before, Doug Phillips very clearly only stated in his letter of repentance that he was resigning from Vision Forum Ministries, the nonprofit branch of the enterprise, and did not state that he was resigning from Vision Forum Inc., the commercial branch of the enterprise. As regular readers will know, Doug Phillips, a prominent leader in the Christian homeschooling movement who preached a return to biblical patriarchy and had gained a large following, is in the midst of a bit of a scandal—he has admitted to having a lengthy affair. Anyway, today we get some clarification on just what Phillips did—and did not—resign from.

I pointed out earlier that Doug Phillips was still posting on his Vision Forum Inc. blog, and that there was no mention anywhere on Vision Forum Inc. of Phillips’ resignation from Vision Forum Ministries, or even that anything was out of the ordinary at all. Yesterday that changed, as Doug Phillips posted this short explanation on his Vision Forum Inc. blog:

Last week, I announced my resignation from the presidency of Vision Forum Ministries, a 501(c)3 organization. I retain ownership of Vision Forum, Inc., a distinct and private company, but consistent with my desires to lead a quiet life focusing on my family and serving as a foot soldier, I will not be giving speeches or running conferences at this time of my life under the banner of VFI or VFM. In addition, Doug’s Blog will become the Vision Forum Blog and will be focused on publishing reports and articles by others, along with news and information from Vision Forum, Inc.

Someone needs to tell Doug Phillips that foot soldiers don’t generally run large commercial enterprises. If Doug Phillips truly wanted to be a foot soldier, he would resign from Vision Forum Inc. and take a job there as an ordinary person rather than, you know, running the thing. What we see Phillips engaging in is not repentance. It is damage control.