Age-old advice: Couple should tread carefully before taking leap of faith

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 10/10/2019 (2559 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Boy Tells Girl by George Antheil, originally published May 5, 1938

 

Dear George: I don’t know whether to stick my nose in a column for women, but I will take a chance. I won’t throw any bricks at you. I see by your column you have been ducking enough.

I am not quite 20. I have a 1938 car and a perfect girlfriend plus a fine future. I have been going with her for three years. We are planning to be married in 1939.

We are very much in love and have been true. We both have a clean slate. Here is where you come in. Our religions are different. My family resents our courtship because of this. We have come to the decision that one of us will change if necessary. Do you think this will change our future happiness? Also, should we get married sooner?

— Roy

 

Answer: Your letter gave me a chuckle. Do you know you mentioned your car before your sweetheart?

Well, to get serious, don’t either of you change your religion until you have made a study of both and one or the other has come to a real belief in the religion that may not be his or her own. If that doesn’t happen, it’s folly to take on a new religion through the love of a person and not the religion.

I will leave the decision of marriage up to you. You know the intensity of your love and you have been courting the girl three years.

 

Read the rest of this letter and other letters from our archives at wfp.to/ageoldadvice.