Douglas Winston Phillips (born 1965) is a

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

author, speaker, attorney, and homeschooling advocate who was once president of the now-defunct Vision Forum Ministries until he resigned due to an inappropriate relationship and allegations of sexual abuse. He advocates

biblical patriarchy Biblical patriarchy, also known as Christian patriarchy, is a set of beliefs in Reformed Evangelical Protestant Christianity concerning gender relations and their manifestations in institutions, including marriage, the family, and the home. It ...

creationism Creationism is the religious belief that nature, and aspects such as the universe, Earth, life, and humans, originated with supernatural acts of divine creation. Gunn 2004, p. 9, "The ''Concise Oxford Dictionary'' says that creationism is 't ...

homeschooling Homeschooling or home schooling, also known as home education or elective home education (EHE), is the education of school-aged children at home or a variety of places other than a school. Usually conducted by a parent, tutor, or an onlin ...

, the

Quiverfull Quiverfull is a Christian theological position that sees large families as a blessing from God. It encourages procreation, abstaining from all forms of birth control, as well as natural family planning, and Human sterilization (surgical procedure) ...

movement, and the

family integrated church In Christianity, a family integrated church is one in which parents and children ordinarily attend church services together; during the service of worship, children and youth stay all through church services and do not attend children's and youth m ...

. He also worked for six years as a lawyer for the

Home School Legal Defense Association The Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA) is a United States-based organization that seeks to aid homeschooling families through legal representation. HSLDA describes itself as a " Christian organization." HSLDA is organized as a 501 ...

(HSLDA).

Personal life

Phillips was born into a Christian family with Jewish heritage. His father was Constitution Party founder Howard Phillips and his mother was Margaret "Peggy" Phillips (née Blanchard). Phillips is the eldest of six children: his younger siblings being Amanda (b. 1966), Brad (b.1968), Jennifer (b.1974), Alexandra (b.1978), and Samuel Joshua (b.1986). Phillips and his wife Beall met at college, where Doug Phillips ran a Christian newspaper and Beall ran a ministry to unwed mothers called ''Alternatives to Abortion.'' Beall Phillips was herself adopted. Together, Doug and Beall Phillips have eight children: Joshua, Justice, Liberty, Jubilee, Faith Evangeline, Honor, Providence and Virginia.

Films

Phillips is the founder of the defunct

San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival (SAICFF) was a film festival located in San Antonio, Texas. It was founded and organized by Doug Phillips. The ''Best of Festival'' or ''Jubilee Award'' carried a $101,000 cash prize. The festival w ...

. Phillips produced a documentary ''The League of Grateful Sons'' in 2004 about the soldiers who fought in the

Battle of Iwo Jima The Battle of Iwo Jima (19 February – 26 March 1945) was a major battle in which the United States Marine Corps (USMC) and United States Navy (USN) landed on and eventually captured the island of Iwo Jima from the Imperial Japanese Army (IJ ...

. In 2009, Phillips led "a team of scientists and investigators, including

John D. Morris John David Morris (born 1946) was an American young earth creationist. He was the son of "the father of creation science", Henry M. Morris, and served as president of the Institute for Creation Research (ICR) from the time of his father's death ...

, president of the

Institute for Creation Research The Institute for Creation Research (ICR) is a Creationist apologetics institute in Dallas, Texas, that specializes in media promotion of pseudoscientific creation science and interpretation of the Genesis creation narrative as a historical ...

" to the

Galápagos Islands The Galápagos Islands (Spanish: , , ) are an archipelago of volcanic islands. They are distributed on each side of the equator in the Pacific Ocean, surrounding the centre of the Western Hemisphere, and are part of the Republic of Ecuador ...

for the 200th anniversary of

Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all species of life have descended fr ...

's life, and produced a documentary entitled ''The Mysterious Islands''.

Criticism

Phillips' teachings have been criticized as promoting a biblical worldview that is considered by some to be oppressive to women and girls. In 2014, Michael Farris, the chairman and cofounder of the

, criticized the biblical patriarchy beliefs of his former HSLDA colleague Doug Phillips, and said he regrets not speaking out against him sooner. He said,

He was teaching that girls should never go to college. . . I started a college where half the student body is female and PHC just elected a woman student as the president of the student body. He was teaching that girls should basically stay in their father's home until marriage. I sent my oldest daughter off to Cedarville University and my second daughter off to Romania as a missionary. I thought my actions would speak louder than his words. I wish I had used words too.

Resignation, sexual abuse allegations

Phillips resigned as president of Vision Forum on October 30, 2013 after acknowledging a "lengthy ... relationship with a woman" which was "inappropriately affectionate and romantic." On November 11, 2013, Vision Forum Ministries' board of directors discontinued operations citing "serious sins" which prompted Phillips' resignation. According to ''

The Christian Post ''The Christian Post'' is an American nondenominational Christianity, non-denominational, Conservatism, conservative, Evangelicalism, evangelical Christian media, Christian online newspaper. Based in Washington, D.C., it was founded in March 200 ...

'', Vision Forum, Inc., Phillips' for-profit business, "appeared to have a liquidation sale" in December 2013. On April 15, 2014, the Phillips family's ex-nanny filed a lawsuit against Phillips and Vision Forum, alleging that she had suffered years of sexual abuse at the hands of Doug Phillips. Phillips denied the abuse charges, according to Julie Ingersoll, "calling them sensationalist and suggesting that they are motivated by a desire for financial gain." On November 17, 2014, Phillips was excommunicated from Boerne Christian Assembly, the church that he founded. Phillips had left the church in July.

Books

He has written or edited the following books (published by his own company

Vision Forum Vision Forum was an evangelical Christian organization based in San Antonio, Texas. It was founded in 1998; its president was Doug Phillips, son of U.S. Constitution Party leader Howard Phillips. Vision Forum Ministries was a 501(c) non-prof ...

): * ''The Bible Lessons of John Quincy Adams for His Son'' (2000) Vision Forum * ''The Letters and Lessons of Teddy Roosevelt for His Sons'' (2001) Vision Forum * ''Robert Lewis Dabney: The Prophet Speaks'' (2003) Vision Forum * ''Poems for Patriarchs'' (2003) Poems for Patriarchs Vision Forum * ''The Birkenhead Drill'' (2004) Vision Forum * ''The Little Boy Down the Road: Short Stories & Essays on the Beauty of Family Life'' (2008) Vision Forum

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Phillips, Doug Living people Baptist ministers from the United States Baptist writers American Christian Young Earth creationists Religious scandals American male writers 1965 births