"You'll never see your children again," he said. The Dark Side of “Families are forever”.

These were the words my bishop told me after I handed him my resignation letter asking to have my name removed from the membership records of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints for doctrinal reasons in May of 2003.

"Families are forever" the Latter-Day Saints teach as part of their curriculum. This is a comforting slogan but there is a dark side to this teaching that can be psychologically traumatizing to both those who are in the church and to those who leave.