The Religious Dysfunctional Family

I came from one of these families, and I know them well - and would like to add my knowledge, to those who have studied other types of dysfunctional families.

My role model, will be Beth, my wife of five years, in the Sixties - whose parents had serious emotional problems - but were also as religious as they could be. Her father was a successful doctor who had his own maternal hospital - very advanced for his time. His was involved in reforming the insane asylums in Missouri - that were a disgrace.

But he was diagnosed with Liver Cancer - and had the option of an operation, with a 50% success rate. He decided to go with that, but his wife intervened - and decided they would set up a medical clinic in Honduras instead!

His wife was an amazing person - whose mother had died, and left her, as the oldest child, to raise the family herself, without much help from her father. Somehow, she went to college, and married the young doctor who become Beth's father.

So off to Honduras they went - to a remote location, and established their clinic - that they called La Buena Fe (the good life). They were supported financially by people in their RLDS church.

But the Father died of his cancer - and the Wife went crazy. Her two sons also went crazy, and are permanently incarcerated in mental institutions. Beth stayed with my family when she was in High School, then went to the church college (Graceland College), then went to a college in Grenoble, in France.

She had turned into a beautiful young woman - that was attracted to men and women. She came back to the States, and we got married. in New York City, in 1965.

The next five years were hectic - since Beth insisted on doing one strange thing after the other. I should have left her - but I was in love! She insisted in moving to California, which I have to say was a good move! We ended up in Santa Barbara - beautiful place, at the time.

Where she had a complete nervous breakdown, was committed to a psych ward, filled with powerful anti-psychotics - and, when she had recovered from those - ordered me out of her life!

I left her in Los Angeles, with her strange friends - and went to a new job in Denver. Two years later, she killed herself!

Now that I have related that sad story - I am wondering how much of it was caused by our religious families?

Hard to say, because their religion was mixed in with so many other things. But their religion made all their other problems worse! I can say that with confidence.