Where in the World is Doug Phillips (Who is a Tool)? Part 10

[AnnaSofia]

I think this is the couple from the Florida wedding:

 

And then Liberty, Faith, Honor, and Virginia road tripped to Faith Metz & Levi Sherman's wedding the following weekend (October 5th).

I neglected to save the wedding photos Faith Phillips posted on her Instagram stories, but for your amusement, here's Levi's VERY cosplay-heavy IG account: https://www.instagram.com/adventurousartisan/

[Flyinthesoup]

19 hours ago, FundieGhostWriter said:

Happy to share, @Flyinthesoup, though I'm tempted to put this under a spoiler with a health warning about adverse outcomes from ROTFL - but I figure FJers have strong constitutions for this stuff.

       The TRUE Origins Story of KEN HAM'S ANSWERS IN GENESIS

The predecessor to AiG was founded in the 70s by an Australian, a genuine MD (not bogus PhD) named Carl Wieland. This group absorbed Ken Ham's operation (Ham was a small-time speaker/book retailer) in the 80s. Twenty-five years later when Dr Carl tried to address Ken's 'issues' (big head, tyranny, salary and expenses, museum folly, fake science) Ham responded with a coup d'état. The affair was headed for court, but before all the juicy stuff could emerge there was a mediation - the result of which was that Ken kept nearly all the toys, and the guys who had supported him for years got - ah, well, the reputational benefit of not being associated with the Kentucky Museum (I hear Ken hopes that when he shuffles off this mortal coil the state will be renamed KenHamtucky - or at least that the motto will change to Porco gratiam habeamus or the nickname to KENtucky, bluegrass eggs and HAM state).

The curtailing of the court process in the 00s was a disappointment to this snarker, but enough dribbled out to confirm the crazy tales that I had previously doubted. John Mackay, Ken's original ministry partner, the man who introduced extreme patriarchy, unfermented-grape-juice exorcisms and witch-hunting to modern Creationism, enthusiastically supported Ken after the coup. This led Dr CW's team to release damning evidence against JM from a battle they had fought in the 80s (to illustrate how lacking in discernment KH was to endorse JM back in the day, and how disgraceful to snuggle up to him again). I don't know if this has been discussed on FJ before, so to keep it brief, John Mackay had tried to take control of AiG in the mid 80s. He had implied that he was one of the two witnesses of the book of Revelation, and after secretly and without authority changing all the locks of Creation central in Australia overnight, had begun sprinkling holy grape juice all over the office space - because Ken Ham's secretary: 1) was the reawakened spirit of Jezebel; 2) had filled the AiG building with demons; 3) after mystically empowering herself by means of necrophilia had tried to destroy him (JM) by sending a 'droopy-eyed' black cat to live in his attic (I'm not making this up); and 4) had taken Satanic possession of John Mackay's own body (and we all know what that means - when an attractive widow somehow invades a patriarch's otherwise perfectly wholesome thoughts - must be demons, right!). JM then held a bonfire of the vanities to destroy things the witch had touched (such as presents the lovely lady, innocent victim of JM's fantasies, had given to the creep's family). I am a creative person, but I'm not sure I could have made this up - and I'm laughing so hard that tears flow as I type. Honestly, the only exaggeration in this post is the Latin and the Dr Seuss. I've left much out. If I detailed just how crazy modern day witch-hunter John Mackay is - Ken Ham's brother-in-arms from way back - you'd struggle to believe me. (Reward me with laughter and love, not WT...s!)

This has more detail than I remember reading.  I first heard of this in about 2006 and I was unsure of the whole AiG ministry, I knew very little of them.  Unfortunately, I tried to track down the information that had been posted at that time, and it and the poster no longer are searchable in the archived threads.  The person posting was a very well respected man, who was not involved in any of this and was at arms length, but he had followed the trail and brought important questions and discussions to the posting.  I remember there being a fight over who would have the AiG magazine and other assets. Ken supposedly was very underhanded in how things turned out.  What you have shared has some real 'crazy' in it.  I'm going to have a look around to learn more about these people you mentioned.  I'm actually not laughing, but shaking my head...it's so absurd!  Interesting about the description of Ken's issues, that does not surprise me. Thank you for sharing! 

[AnnaSofia]

So is this the successor to Dougie's San Antonio Christian Film Festival?

I'm a bit surprised to see only one Botkin among the speakers...

https://www.christianworldviewfilmfestival.com/archives/2019-speakers/

[hoipolloi]

18 minutes ago, AnnaSofia said:

So is this the successor to Dougie's San Antonio Christian Film Festival?

Quite possibly. It started in 2014 which, IIRC was the year after the implosion of VFI/VFM & the SAICFF, due to the Fall of the Tool.

 

[thoughtful]

8 hours ago, hoipolloi said:

Quite possibly. It started in 2014 which, IIRC was the year after the implosion of VFI/VFM & the SAICFF, due to the Fall of the Tool.

I remember reading something, while I was looking up people in AYNA, about the founder saying he saw a need for Christian filmmaking, and thinking "yeah, you saw Vision Forum crashing, and went for it."

I can't find it now, but I'm pretty sure it was Phillip Telfer - he is listed as the founder and director of Media Talk 101, which runs the film festival.

Telfer is also the last name of the guy who played goofy David in AYNA - John Telfer. I'm guessing John is Phillip's son, but haven't found proof yet.

https://www.christianworldviewfilmfestival.com/speaker/phillip-telfer/

 

Edited October 8, 2019 by thoughtful
riffle

[Hane]

@JermajestyDuggar, the other day I was chatting with my (devout Roman Catholic) sister, and she mentioned that an at-risk child she knows is attending a “Christian” school, assuming that’s a good thing. I told her I have misgivings about such schools, as the one in our town teaches Young Earth Creationism—a literal six-day creation, with the Earth about 6,000 years old. She said, “But that’s what I believe!” (She’s an LCSW, ffs.) I told her that the Catholic Church believes in evolution. (I forgot to mention Pope Francis.) She replied that her only recollection of catechism class was a mean nun.

[AnnaSofia]

Well, the award design's got nothing on "The Pedo"

Thank Rufus

[thoughtful]

9 hours ago, AnnaSofia said:

I'm a bit surprised to see only one Botkin among the speakers...

https://www.christianworldviewfilmfestival.com/archives/2019-speakers/

Oh, but other luminaries were there! George Escobar, the director of AYNA, Stephen Kendrick, of the Kendreck productions Fireproof, Courageous and War Room, Eric Ludy, who wrote When God Writes Your Love Story, and many more!

[hoipolloi]

1 hour ago, thoughtful said:

Oh, but other luminaries were there!

Grifters gonna grift!

You do wonder if these guys ever tried competing in a legitimate film festival -- you know, a film festival where the actual quality of film-making counts.

Looks to me like they went from one affirmative action program to another of the same kind.

[AnnaSofia]

They'll scream "Christian persecution" until they're blue in the face, but they couldn't make it in the mainstream, and they know it.

As we've said here many times, that's why Dougie glomed on to the Christian market.  Sooooo much easier to be a big fish in a rank, shallow pond.

[Columbia]

On 10/7/2019 at 11:46 PM, AnnaSofia said:

So is this the successor to Dougie's San Antonio Christian Film Festival?

I'm a bit surprised to see only one Botkin among the speakers...

https://www.christianworldviewfilmfestival.com/archives/2019-speakers/

And Benjamin, at that. I would think that with him and Audrey leaving CTK church they would not be welcome around Botkin-esque festivals any more. 

[FundieGhostWriter]

On 10/8/2019 at 12:21 PM, Flyinthesoup said:

I remember there being a fight over who would have the AiG magazine and other assets. Ken supposedly was very underhanded in how things turned out.  What you have shared has some real 'crazy' in it.  I'm going to have a look around to learn more about these people you mentioned.

As you're interested in digging further I'll add a little (although talking about anything but the betrayal of the Kurds feels almost disrespectful today - DTIART).

The toys I mentioned that Ken kept were the US and UK operations, and vitally, the Creation magazine mailing list for those countries. It's an established strategy (Doug Phillips anyone? - a huge fan of Ken) to run for the door taking the mailing list with you. Those with Christian hearts in these groups are liable to become shark food. They consider their ministry colleagues brothers-in-arms, and often neglect legal safeguards. Then there's 'Christian' mediation. Beware. The shark, being shameless, will too often prevail, and in the event of a decision against them they can reject the process and try court anyway. (Those who feel obliged to prefer such mediation need a reminder that our courts are not run by first century Roman pagans who do not understand Christian ways.) The magazine, BTW, was not founded by Ken. It was started by Carl W years before the merger.

So, the original AiG nearly went bust when Ken took the toys. But they persisted, barely kept the magazine going, and today have the creation.com website (they did end up with the best domain name - much better than the alphabet soup of answersingenesis.org). Thus the original movement now has three branches: 1. John Mackay - striving to take us back to the middle ages. 2. Ken Ham - striving for maximum media. 3. creation.com - I would almost say striving for credibility - they've had praise from Richard Dawkins(!) for this web page (if you encounter a creationist with a particularly crazy claim, you might be able to silence them using it, since the critique here will be from a fellow creationist) - but... in recent times (maybe after Dr CW retired?) their new thing seems to be... UFOs! (And yes, that is Bo Duke.) Is Gary Bates shaping up to be the next Ken Ham? Secure the mailing list!

You might like a taste of John Mackay's 'technique' as a witch-hunter. When he encountered a black cat in his attic he stared at it until one of its eyes 'drooped', indicating that it was a demonic rather than natural being. The next day at work he used the same 'stare of spiritual discernment' on Ken's secretary, and after a time her eye likewise drooped, proving that the two were linked in a devilish pact. Convinced? Neither was his church. After repeated complaints about such conduct he was excommunicated (it's quite an achievement to be excommunicated for extremism by fundamental baptists!). If you look at these videos of him facing off with Richard Dawkins, you'll probably feel that your own eye might droop if he stared at you long enough with no one around. Dawkins is 5'9" or 10", so you'll get a sense of what a hulking great fellow John Mackay is. Now roll his age back twenty years in your mind and imagine how you would feel. I know a family with an amazing international archive (would that be snarkive!) of this material going back decades. John's rantings from the old days are unlikely to be available online - they're still in copyright, and he is probably not keen to have them surface. I have only seen them on paper.

countingupfrom50 - is this boring fixation on her age what turned Doug off? Is every intimate conversation about her knees, hips and prolapse - while little Douglas prefers to skip around pretending to be forever twenty? (Easy when the only 'arrow' he ever had to deal with was his own. Despite the photo I never got the vibe that he was looking after Peter's too. But if we're polling the pics I think my all time fave is the Colossus of teen weddings. That will never grow old, and needs no backstory. Second place would be a tough field, but will probably be best seen complete with a caption from @thoughtful. I'd either go for swinging in the jungle, or the recent b&w Retro Dancer Dougie.)

Thanks @AnnaSofia for The Pedo. That requires no backstory either. I turned my screen to share that - and now I'm going to help sweep up teeth after my friend's jaw hit the ground.

[CyborgKin]

FYI the organisation before it was named Answers in Genesis was the Creation Science Foundation.  (I think part of the reason they changed it was cos people confused it with these weirdos.)

CW's branch is now called Creation MInistries International, which is an international federation of ministries.  Gary Bates relocated from Brisbane Australia (where he was CMI-Australia's Head of Ministry) to the US to serve as the CEO of CMI-US, and was also CEO of CMI-Worldwide from 2008 to mid 2016.

Recently this year he was given an honorary doctorate for his research on 'extraterrestrial phenomena'.

Since CW retired back in 2015, Dr Don Batten has been the Managing Director of CMI-Australia.  (Unlike KH, CW was big on making sure he was replaceable.)  Don was a research horticulturalist with the NSW Department of Agriculture.  Also he's one of the four rotating editors for Creation magazine.  I recently heard someone question him on climate change and he said that the models are wrong because they include climate instability that was invented to try to explain the cause for multiple ice ages, which is wrong and unnecessary because there was only one ice age, which was caused by the conditions resulting from Noah's flood.

[Howl]

On 10/10/2019 at 9:29 PM, FundieGhostWriter said:

Colossus of teen weddings.

Thank you! I needed this!

I also remember is Tyler Tsantles incredibly pale face.  And in the passage of these few years, I think Tyler is the father of something like five children. 

10 hours ago, CyborgKin said:

the models are wrong because they include climate instability that was invented to try to explain the cause for multiple ice ages, which is wrong and unnecessary because there was only one ice age, which was caused by the conditions resulting from Noah's flood.

Well I'm glad THAT's finally cleared up! 

[dripcurl]

5 hours ago, Howl said:

I also remember is Tyler Tsantles incredibly pale face.  And in the passage of these few years, I think Tyler is the father of something like five children. 

I remember seeing Blair and Taylor in real life about 10 years ago at a conference Scott Brown had here in WA. They were courting, not engaged yet, and they had ZERO chemistry. He tried to follow her around and “tend” to her, and she was extremely dismissive of him and they almost never looked at each other. Very sad stuff.

[DomWackTroll]

So, I guess Natasha E. got sprung from prison:

 

[Howl]

I'm glad Natasha has a post-incarceration employment, but did they consult a brand adviser about the name?  Imunique sounds like a boutique spa where you  get infusions to build immunity for cancer treatment or something. 

I guess it's supposed to be pronounced "I'm Unique" but it's kind of like "ITOnramp" which will forever be 1 Ton Ramp to me.   

I hope Natasha finds a more wholesome set of friends and makes good choices. 

[thoughtful]

11 minutes ago, Howl said:

did they consult a brand adviser about the name?  Imunique sounds like a boutique spa where you  get infusions to build immunity for cancer treatment or something. 

I guess that needs to go in the Graphic Design Fail thread (although, to be fair, there is an apostrophe in the logo).

http://www.imuniquehairartistry.com/

 

[hoipolloi]

I hope that Natasha succeeds at her business and builds a good life for herself and her son.

 

[Howl]

8 hours ago, hoipolloi said:

I hope that Natasha succeeds at her business and builds a good life for herself and her son.

I didn't realize she had a son.  Who did the kid live with while mom was in the gray-bar hotel?

[hoipolloi]

1 hour ago, Howl said:

I didn't realize she had a son.  Who did the kid live with while mom was in the gray-bar hotel?

Don't know except I'm pretty sure it wasn't Jen. The child may be around 9 or 10 now.

I truly hope that he's been with stable, loving adults.

[Maxwell]

BeallsBlog.com is now displaying a 'Website Expired" page and from Instagram as of 6 days ago...

 

Quote

 

countingupfrom50

Imagination Station! I’ve been dry for months. Not bored and not depressed. Just dry of ideas, dry of creativity. Changed locations. Fresh venue. Fresh weather. Bam! The words and ideas started exploding. Now to channel the enthusiasm and energy into planning and executing and delivering. (Also need a paper notebook. The rest of the world might type away, but I need the right pen and a good ole’ pad.)

 

**Bolding is mine**

[hoipolloi]

11 minutes ago, Maxwell said:

BeallsBlog.com is now displaying a 'Website Expired" page and from Instagram as of 6 days ago...

She hasn't posted anything since February, after the birth of Joshua's & Delaney's child.

[CyborgKin]

Imagination Station?

*types in the word "applesauce" and gets out of there*

 

(does anyone get that reference?)

[dripcurl]

Happy Toolloween! It’s been 6 years and it feels like it now. I remember a personal phone conversation from that day with someone we have discussed here about the Tool’s fall. I haven’t checked up on the family in a bit and frankly my dear I don’t give a damn anymore. But I am so happy I do not subscribe to any of that damaging Patriarchal ideology any longer!