Mormonism

Elizabeth

When I was married in August, 1999, my husband who was a deeply religious man said that God spoke directly to him. He and I were both members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and my husband believed that his judgment was basically infallible because of the “personal revelations” he received from Jesus Christ. I found out just before we were to be married that just a few months prior, he showed up at the doorstep of a woman who barely knew of him let alone interacted with him proclaiming that “the Lord declared to me that I should take you as my wife. Will you marry me?” He was dead serious. Of course she turned down his offer. Since he was thoroughly convinced of the infallibility of his revelations, he put the blame on her saying that she was being “stubborn” and “willful” against the voice of God and would suffer in the hereafter for her obstinance. Shortly after we were married, I had trouble with insomnia and chose to stay home from church so I could try and sleep. His demeanor towards me changed from warm and loving to cold, resentful, and accusing me of being a liar because “you made yourself look so much more dedicated to the faith than you really are just so I would marry you”. Later on I decided to make friends with some women who were Jehovah’s Witnesses and read some books which were critical of our faith. He told me that unless I repented and threw away the books and my friends that I would be damned in the hereafter. He claimed to see evil spirits following me everywhere. Later on I actually did leave the faith, but he remained with me. He told me that he expected me to wear the garments, pray with him, participate in church activities, etc. or I stood in danger of losing my children forever. This wasn’t a veiled threat, it was something he knew scared the crap out of me, and for a while I was incredibly surreptitious about what I read, said, wore, and did in his presence. I felt as though I was living a double life. In 2010, he left for Afghanistan and I came “out of the closet” as an apostate. I had a credit card, enrolled in school and started looking for jobs to prepare for the consequences of what would more than likely happen. A mutual friend apparently told him about my openness about leaving, and he wiped our bank account clean of every penny over night. I was petrified. We had only the credit card to rely on and that was only $500.00: after that we would be without food, gas, and possibly a place to live. I pleaded with him to make things work, trying to buy time until I could get out of the situation. He put the money back in the bank, but I had to be careful that he didn’t see me drinking coffee or doing anything else that could clue him in on my “little lifestyle” as he called it. If he thought I wasn’t at least trying to be a believer, the money would be gone again. In 2012 after he returned from Afghanistan, I couldn’t take the pressure to be someone I was not anymore. My mental health was suffering and I was physically starting to fall apart as well. The anxiety attacks were a near daily occurrence. We mutually agreed to a divorce, but he took my children. In the State of Tennessee there is literally no protection for Military spouses who need legal assistance, and he kept such close tabs on the money I spent that squirreling away enough money to get an attorney was extremely difficult. He disowned my daughter (She had called him Daddy since she was 4 and she is now 20) and took my two sons to North Carolina. His new wife believes I abandoned my sons even though I call them daily and actually showed up at their doorstep in an attempt to see them Everyone believes he was the victim in this situation and that I was crazy, irresponsible, etc. My Father, also a Latter Day Saint, tried to keep my kids’ address from me because he “promised (my ex) that he wouldn’t share the address” with me. Like my ex, my Father is extremely patriarchal in his mindset and believes Michael’s words over mine. This has permanently damaged our relationship.