26Feb2019 UPDATE: Sadly, the prayer posted here for justice for Joe Taylor did not result in his vindication, and even the Chalcedon Foundation was not willing to come forward to bear witness to Doug Phillips' actions until after the demise of Vision Forum after it closed because of a sex scandal. People at Chalcedon knew and did nothing until Phillips had fallen into obscurity.
I don't know what happened to Joe. I do know that Vision Forum seized everything -- including his instruments for excavation, and even his artwork. I was once at a gathering in San Antonio where I was invited to go see the Allosaur mentioned here. I also don't know what happened to the property that Phillips seized.
Joe thought that he'd participated in a Christian process of making peace among fellow Christians, and he was asked by those who he viewed as fellow brothers in the faith to sign an agreement to commit to pursing peace with one another. His trusting spirit was caused when learned later that every time he spoke about the matter or wrote about it in an online chatroom, he was violating a legal agreement that held him to silence about the matter. In a system of mediation much like Peacemaker Ministries offers, Christians are deceived into signing away their rights in a manner that puts them at a disadvantage. If their plaintiff is a minster or leader, the targeted individual signs away a good bit of their power and their legal recourse.
Phillips used the courts in the State of Texas to bankrupt Joe Taylor, and they took everything he owned as payment for the penalties Joe incurred for violating the agreement. He could not afford an attorney on the many occasions that he traveled to to face Phillips in court, so he never managed to gain a favorable decision in the court.
Read more HERE.
Original Post from December 2007:
For those of you who are unaware of the controversy regarding Vision Forum's participation in a 2001 dinosaur dig, please visit Raising the Truth to read the whole, well-documented story.
I don't know what happened to Joe. I do know that Vision Forum seized everything -- including his instruments for excavation, and even his artwork. I was once at a gathering in San Antonio where I was invited to go see the Allosaur mentioned here. I also don't know what happened to the property that Phillips seized.
Joe thought that he'd participated in a Christian process of making peace among fellow Christians, and he was asked by those who he viewed as fellow brothers in the faith to sign an agreement to commit to pursing peace with one another. His trusting spirit was caused when learned later that every time he spoke about the matter or wrote about it in an online chatroom, he was violating a legal agreement that held him to silence about the matter. In a system of mediation much like Peacemaker Ministries offers, Christians are deceived into signing away their rights in a manner that puts them at a disadvantage. If their plaintiff is a minster or leader, the targeted individual signs away a good bit of their power and their legal recourse.
Phillips used the courts in the State of Texas to bankrupt Joe Taylor, and they took everything he owned as payment for the penalties Joe incurred for violating the agreement. He could not afford an attorney on the many occasions that he traveled to to face Phillips in court, so he never managed to gain a favorable decision in the court.
Read more HERE.
Original Post from December 2007:
For those of you who are unaware of the controversy regarding Vision Forum's participation in a 2001 dinosaur dig, please visit Raising the Truth to read the whole, well-documented story.
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The saga has not yet come to an end. The wrongfully maligned Joe Taylor, now without any funds has again been outmanipulated by Doug Phillips in an attempt to cover up the evidence concerning Phillips' reported manipulation and "hijacking" of a Creation Science excavation project. Please read Joe Taylor's letter to Doug Phillips in the blog post to follow.
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This new post on another blog describes Joe Taylor's dilemma who planned to go to court in Lubbock, TX, but due to the intervention of the deep pocketed Doug Phillips, the case has been reset in Austin, TX. Joe Taylor has no attorney (and no money) and his legal advisor is now unable to attend the Austin hearing due to the change of venue on very short notice (actually less notice than the law allows from my understanding).
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A blog post from "May Justice Prevail"
Doug Phillip’s friend and attorney of the DeRosa family, Ed Watts has contacted the sheriff of Crosbyton, TX to take possession of the contents of Joe Taylor’s Mt. Blanco Fossil Museum in Crobyton, Texas and auction them off. Joe has been trying to have his case heard in court to get the 2004 mediation and 2007 arbitration overturned. Phillips/DeRosas did not follow proper procedure. Joe was not allowed to bring witnesses nor was he allowed to present his evidence. He was given a take it or leave it offer.
Several of the 7 points of objection in Joe’s filing are that the Mediator/Arbitrator should not have accepted or promoted the roles of both Mediator and Arbitrator in this case and the Mediator/Arbitrator did not avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest as he was involved in the subject matter of the Agreement and Decision.
In 2004, Dana and Brenda Forbes sold their interest in the Allosaur to Joe in order to force Phillips/DeRosa into what Joe thought would be a christian mediation. Joe had to pay the Forbes $40,000 from the mediation money. Joe also had borrowed money from family and friends to stay afloat while he tried to resolve the conflict outisde of court. Joe did not make money on the allosaur for all his work excavating the dinosaur. He lost the money from casts, his film, and lost opportunities as well. He also had his credentials stolen and given to the DeRosas.
At the 2007 aribitration Joe was fined over $100,000 for telling the truth about the Allosaur debacle including Doug’s film, “Raising the Allosaur.” One of the charges was for answering questions on this website and the now defunct Badonicus site.
Doug’s assistant Bob Renaud told a group of us this May 2007, that he called in by phone to Joe’s arbitration proceeding as a witness that Joe Taylor is a racist based on his comments to these sites. Joe was also fined for writing other letters speaking the truth about the allosaur debacle.
They are trying to seize Joe’s Lone Star Mastodon [Late entry/addendum 17Dec07 9pm: I wsa contacted by the author of this post who asked that I remove part of a statement until they can obtain additional confirmation and corroboration. So I have deleted 9 words at the end of this sentence and will restore them when I have the author's permission.] Joe has been bullied and brutalized, financially and emotionally devastated by these folks that call themselves christians.
Joe’s lawyer had a chance to nail Doug on ethical violations in the spring of 2003 for unethical involvement in the case. Joe’s attorney, Shannon Norris agreed not file charges when Doug’s friend, VF board member and VF attorney Don Hart called Shannon and asked him not to, citing Doug’s remorse. (Shannon and Don had been friends in law school) Those of us that know the truth and have seen the evidence, want Joe to get a fair hearing.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Please pray that this matter resolves favorably and that the innocent parties realize vindication. The person who posted this comment states that they have first hand knowledge of the miscarriage of justice and have submitted it to the proper authorities. Please pray that God gives these authorities great wisdom and that He governs their actions. Pray for justice for all the parties involved (and allow the Lord to work His mercy after the truth has been revealed). Please pray that God shows Himself STRONG to those who place their faith in Him.
Sadly, Joe Taylor believed that the legal mediation was not a legal proceding but a Christian attempt to reconcile. His naivete came at a high price. May God give him more wisdom than he can contain and great favor, showing mercy to all of the parties involved. Have faith in God's Providence, Love and Power to root out and tear down wickedness in this situation. Please pray that the truth would be revealed and realized.
May this be a mighty demonstration of God's Glory and Might.
