Marriage Demise: Was Adultery Involved?

Next >

Why Is Linda Still Silent?

"Joe Smith" posted these interesting comments back on January 19, 2007. What makes them particularly relevant to us is our belief that they were written by Ronnie Shelton, brother of 3ABN president Danny Shelton.

Save 3abn Website
Joe Smith	Jan 19 2007, 10:39 AM
	Well SISTER, I am still waiting for the proof.... this is the 2nd time I have ask for it. Quoting you.... "Put up or shut up".. By the way, we all know so the 'GAG ORDER' is up..... why isn't Linda speaking out now??? Joe
	Forum: 3ABN · Post Preview: #171145 · Replies: 368 · Views: 10,953

He made a good point, didn't he?

We are certain that the following is another post by Ronnie, using the user name Task Force. Unfortunately, Task Force got banned on February 2 for some disrespectful comments to the forum administrator, but even so, Ronnie's point is well taken:

Privacy Policy Violation
task force	Feb 2 2007, 11:06 AM
	Now you are quilty of doing what you accused so many others of doing... switching the subject from the slanderous accusations of sexual orientation of other Sheltons .. that's not going away! THe proof exist.. why do you think Linda, since you brought her name up, is not talking now that the gag order expired at the end of December.?.. she knows there is proof! She doesn't want it out there.
	Forum: 3ABN · Post Preview: #174649 · Replies: 54 · Views: 1,259

Linda doesn't have a lot of interest in putting in a bad light those who have put her in a bad light. That is commendable. But on February 14, 2007, Linda broke her silence by calling for the evidence against her to be made public.

Danny Shelton and 3ABN have thus far chosen not to honor that request. No evidence has yet been produced. Thus we have decided to sift through some pertinent correspondence and post excerpts from it, without Linda's collaboration or review.

February 5, 2004: No Problems Yet

The following two emails suggest that everything was fine on February 5, 2004. Note the friendly, cordial, hopeful tone of both messages.

Linda to Danny on February 5, 2004

-------- Original Message -------- From:  Arild Abrahamsen To:  [Danny Shelton] Date:  Thursday, February 05, 2004 5:47 AM Hi Hon, Sorry I've been unable to communicate before now...our sleeping schedule and activity schedule and the international phone not working has conflicted with getting through to you. But I'm sure you've been busy too. Norway is gorgeous, but what makes it the most special is that I'm seeing a miracle happen right before my eyes with Nathan. The transformation is incredible. He looks great. He's gained weight, He's quit smoking and his attitude has been great. He's developed a real trust and friendship with the doctor, and he'd like to come back in the summer. I'm hoping you will allow Nathan to stay in the apartments for a couple of weeks when he gets home so his drug friends won't have easy access to him. Please pray about it. We leave tomorrow and I look forward to seeing you in Atlanta. Should I meet you outside of customs You can e-mail me back at this address if you have a chance. Well, gotta go. Love you, LINDA

Danny to Linda on February 5, 2004

-------- Original Message -------- From:  Danny Shelton To:  Arild Abrahamsen Subject:  Re: Date:  Thu, 5 Feb 2004 07:06:02 -0600 Hi Linda Sue, Glad everything is going well. I woke up this morning to about 3" of snow! not good. Anyway, I suppose we'll meet you in baggage claim, after customs. I'm glad Nathan is doing better. I have been praying about his situation. See you tomorrow night, if the runway is cleared for take off. I hope the snow will stop and the weather straighten out by then. Love, Your Hubby ps. By the way, my phone number is *** ***-**** or ***-****, in case you've forgotten.

The Straw That Broke the Camel's Back

But by April 27, just eleven weeks and five days later, Danny had found an issue that was utterly insurmountable, and which in his mind justified ending the marriage.

As one peruses the correspondence of the weeks and months that followed February 5, even correspondence written long after the June 2004 Guam divorce, Danny seems fixated on two issues:

• Allegedly frequent and long phone calls between Linda and Dr. Arild Abrahamasen.
• Alleged vacations planned by Linda and Dr. Arild Abrahamsen.

We say "allegedly" and "alleged" because:

• The two sides differ in their accounts of what actually transpired, such as the frequency and duration of the phone calls, and Danny's word has proven to be in error on multiple occasions.
• Current phone card rates to Norway mandate that the number of billed minutes be divided by a factor of 7 or 20 (depending on if the phone called in Norway was a land line or a cellphone) in order to determine the actual time spent on the phone.
• The alleged "vacations" took place after the divorce. In some instances these trips were for medical treatment, and in other instances they were to be to locations where Dr. Arild Abrahamsen was not going to be.

But regardless of the truth of the matter, we know that neither phone calls nor vacations was what caused Danny to decide to end his marriage of nearly twenty years. Rather, the straw that broke the camel's back was something a bit different. Here's how Danny put it to one of Linda's family members on April 27, 2004:

-------- Original Message -------- From:  Danny Shelton To:  ****** Subject:  Re: *** *** *** here; personal & confidential Date:  Tuesday, April 27, 2004 6:12 PM ******, Please advise Linda that it is time to leave me and start a new life for herself. Anytime that our relationship would degrade to the point that she would listen to such foolish advice as hiding my gun, the relationship is over. In 22 years that I have known her I have never even gotten mad at her enough to shoot a paper wad at her, let alone a real gun. Besides you only had her hide one gun and I have two. I will not try to stop her from leaving and going to the doctor. At this point I would welcome it. With the advice that she is getting from family she will never be able to put aside all the "junk advice that she has gotten from them. Her life's a mess now. Thanks to bad advice, she no longer has a chance, nor the witts to put it aside and save her marriage. As you know, I've taken care of her for 20 years. She's going to need you more now than ever before. I do hope all that advice turns into more that just words. She needs you to be there loving her and caring for her needs and helping her financially if so necessary in the future. Danny

Seventh-day Adventists do not believe that hiding a gun constitutes biblical grounds for divorce.

Biblical Grounds for Divorce?

Not by March 25

Did Danny have biblical grounds for his quickie, June 2004 divorce in Guam? Not by March 25 he didn't, according to his own words. Writing from Linda's 3ABN email account, Danny had this to say to Dr. Abrahamsen:

-------- Original Message -------- From:  Linda Shelton To:  Arild Abrahamsen Organization:  Three Angels Broadcasting Network Date:  Thu, 25 Mar 2004 20:17:39 -0600 ... There is only one name for this sin. Pastor John says it is spiritual adultery, which is the same in God's sight as physical adultery. ... ...

Not by April 14. What is Spiritual Adultery?

Now what might "spiritual adultery" be? The next email provides a key, one written on April 14. Actually, the key is in the article that Danny attached a link to, an article we'll comment on below.

-------- Original Message -------- From:  Danny Shelton To:  [Arild Abrahamsen] Subject:  Emailing: 8207 Date:  Wed, 14 Apr 2004 08:11:19 -0500 At best, this represents, what you have done. Today is the day we start contacting your church leaders.

Things You Should First/Only Tell Your Spouse

Attached to the email above was a link to an article entitled "Spiritual Adultery," an article posted by John Mark Ministries. That article gives a quote that defines "spiritual adultery," a quote from the book Why Some Christians Commit Adultery:

... "the first and greatest cause of 'sexual' adultery, among well-meaning Christians, is 'spiritual' adultery [which happens when] married persons share with someone else what ought to have been shared first or only with their own spouses" (p.7). ("Spiritual Adultery")

One would be hard pressed to find a Seventh-day Adventist anywhere in the world who would maintain that this constitutes biblical grounds for divorce. Any Seventh-day Adventist who divorces their spouse for such things would run the risk of being subjected to church discipline.

Not that spouses are free to confide personal matters with anyone and everyone they choose. There is a sacred circle around the home, and certain things just should not be divulged outside that circle.

Noticeable exceptions might be when an individual's life or health is in danger.

Not by the Date the Divorce Was Final

Below is an email from Danny to Pastor Johann Thorvaldsson in which he outlines the possible times Linda might have committed adultery. Of course, when we consider his claims of "vacations," we must ask ourselves whether these trips were for the purpose of medical treatment or vacations, whether there was a group involved or just two individuals. While what Danny says must certainly be considered, we cannot condemn Linda solely on his testimony since his testimony has proven to be unreliable too many times.

Be that as it may, he lists the following times when he claims Linda and Dr. Abrahamsen were together in the same place:

• Around the time of the May 2004 camp meeting.
• Around June 24, three days after their divorce was final on June 21, 2004.
• During a trip to Norway in July 2004.

Obviously, the latter two "vacations" could not be used as biblical grounds for the divorce, since the divorce was already final before they occurred.

And the visit by Pastor Johann Thorvaldsson and Dr. Arild Abrahamsen to 3ABN in May 2004, that visit was made in order to be able to share their side of the story at the 3ABN board meeting, a side which denied that any adultery or affair had taken place. To make that visit out to be evidence of an affair when that very visit all the way from Norway was meant to deny that any affair had occurred, it just seems like a stretch.

-------- Original Message -------- From:  Danny Shelton To:  Johann Thorvaldsson Subject:    Date:  Sunday, August 08, 2004 9:20 AM Johann, it's amazing that you and your daughter and Linda's boyfriend the Dr., all try to convince her I'm crazy because I seem to talk out of two sides of my mouth when referring to her sinful relationship with this Dr. ... I would love to see how you and your daughter or daughter in law, or whoever this woman is that Linda says is saying that I'm crazy enough to possibly kill her, and Linda's boyfriend, Dr. Abrahamson, would view Jesus after reading some of His statements in the bible. Would they think He is crazy too? ... ... They all told her that spiritual adultery virtually always turns into physical adultery. They told her that eventually these "innocent" conversations with this other man would end up in meeting together physically. Because before very long these long conversations would not be enough to fill her emotional needs. The next step would be to meet together which virtually always takes this problem from spiritual adultery to physical. How right they were, as soon plans of secret meetings behind my back began to come to my attention. Some of them I was able to intervene but others I could not stop. As you know she just spent nearly 3 weeks in Norway with this man because she cannot keep herself away from him. Only two weeks before this vacation he came to America and they spent a 4 day vacation together in Springfield Il. Only and month or so before that they met again. Our divorce was 3 days old when they went on vacation together .... ... Anyway, I'm happy to take a physciatric exam at the same time you and Aril Abrahamson and Linda all take one. Maybe we'll find out who's really crazy! Still your friend tho I don't agree with you Danny ...

Why Was Linda Traveling?

The following email of July 17, 2004, puts it quite well regarding why Linda was traveling about so much the summer of 2004. The first paragraph is also particularly enlightening.

-------- Original Message -------- From:  Linda Shelton To:  Danny Shelton Subject:  Re: Date:  Saturday, July 17, 2004 10:34 AM Dan, Your perception is totally wrong. When I was accused on March 7 I was completely innocent. I tried to correct the problems by quitting contact with this doctor. It didn't help. You accused, you condemned, you demanded confessions (that I could not in honesty confess.) You were out of control. Your big mouth starting going from one to another and in a very short time it was too late. My reputation was already gone by the end of March. In April you sent the e-mail to my family saying our marriage was over. The only way at this point that you could have redeemed the situation is if you made a public confession that you over-reacted and things were not as they appeared to you. But your ego would not let you do that. That's why we are where we are today. Even the divorce was an over-reaction. A 19 year marriage should not go down the drain in three months. I had a lot of hope for reconciliation for a long time. I prayed, I cried, I begged God to help you see the truth. But I don't see any hope right now. The trust factor is demolished. But I don't hate you. I am praying that God will help me to REALLY forgive you because there is still resentment lurking in my system over this. The best thing we can do right now is just go on with life. Perhaps time will help heal the scars more effectively. Right now I NEED the support of my friends and family. This has been extremely devastating and I need time to heal. So I hope you will STOP with all the P.I.'s and phone bugs and whatever else you are doing and just let me heal. I hope that the Lord will continue to bless 3ABN and that it will not be adversely affected by all of this. I will always love this ministry. And I will always care about you too!! ( I've told you that many times!) But right now I have to care about my broken spirit...and I believe the traveling will help. Bless you!! LS

Another Perspective

Various ones weighed in on the matter in those early days. Here is the perspective of one of Linda's close relatives as written to yet another close relative:

-------- Original Message -------- From:  ****** To:  ****** CC:  Linda Shelton Subject:  Linda Date:  Sat, 29 May 2004 09:58:13 -0700 Dear ******: Linda is going through an extremely difficult time right now. You may have heard that Danny has accused her of "spiritual adultery" and has caused an international scandal within the Seventh Day Adventist Church. He is a con artist with his ability to talk and it never stops. On the other hand, he wants Linda to sweep everything under the carpet and go on with their marriage. He is either having a nervous breakdown or has developed a mental disorder. The problem started awhile before Nathan's drug problem became an issue. Danny's feeling was expressed stating Linda had no reason to speak with anyone but him about anything -- in other words he did not want her talking to anyone. He would allow her to speak with her family and to him alone. This statement was made several times and for no real reason. Then Nathan's drug problem became known and Linda asked Danny if Nathan could move in with them. Danny said that Nathan was Linda's son and it was her problem, that he did not want Nathan or Nathan's friends in the house. About that same time, a doctor from Norway came to visit the station. Linda spoke with him about Nathan and the doctor (Dr. Abrahamsen) said he could help him but Nathan had to go to Norway because the method was not accepted here in the United States. To make a long story short, Nathan did go to Norway for a 10-day treatment. Linda and a friend from 3ABN went over later. Nathan made a drastic improvement and they all returned to the United States; however, Nathan returned to his use of Meth. Linda continued to be in contact with the doctor about Nathan, and that is when Danny went beserk and started accusing her of spiritual adultery, claiming she should only be talking with him. Now Danny goes around telling everyone -- 3ABN, the National Conference for SDA, the World Church for SDA, etc. -- that Linda has committed "adultery" (not mentioning the "spiritual" aspect of it), and she has been barred from entering 3ABN property, threatened [with] the loss of her job (she is on a 30-day leave which expires this week), and speaking engagements have been cancelled. On top of that he wants to continue the marriage .... On the other side, Danny continually asks for a divorce, stating he does not want to be married to her. This, of course, is contradictory and puts Linda in a constant state of dilema. Linda told [a close relative] about the situation first. I had sent e-mail messages and telephoned her several times without a response. I finally called [that close relative] and asked her if she had heard from Linda lately. She started crying and asked if I had not heard? I said, heard what? That's when I learned of the situation and have been in contact with Linda on a daily basis ever since. Danny has had Linda under surveillance, her phones tapped, her computer tapped, and she has been emotionally upset over this. Linda does have a new laptop that Danny does not know about and you can contact her at ******@******. Her cell number is ***.***.****. She is staying with Alyssa for the past week and will drive back to West Frankfort on Monday or Tuesday. Linda has been staying with friends as much as possible. I'm sure Linda would like to hear from you and will appreciate your love and support during this difficult and completely unexpected period in her life. Love ..., ******

Next >