"Would it be Scripturally proper for them now to marry and to begin to rear children? No is the answer which is supported by the Scriptures.... Those Jonadabs who now contemplate marriage, it would seem, would do better if they wait a few years, until the fiery storm of Armageddon is gone" (Face the Facts, 1938, pp. 46, 50).
Oh, does that bring back memories, and they're not pleasant. Bob Martin, Marshalltown, Iowa, listened to Rutherford speak to him and many other young ones at a district assembly in those years. Young Bob's resolve, then, was to heed that advice.
Fast forward 21 years and my new wife and I got an apartment in the same complex where Bob lived. Bob, now in his mid 40's and with age lines on his brow that were matched by his perpetual sadness, was then a custodian at Marshalltown's soldier's home, the subsidized housing for indigent veterans. He paid us a visit and then related his experience, the one from that assembly, which oozed disappointment and bitterness. New wifey and I were somewhat shaken after Bob left our apartment, comparing our new life to the youth which Bob had obviously sacrificed.
It wasn't long before Bob showed up at the Kingdom Hall with his new wife Mary, a co-worker at the same soldier's home where Bob worked. It wasn't long before Bob and Mary stopped attending altogether. We thought it sad that Bob wasn't strong enough to remain faithful to the organization.
We hadn't been, however, in Bob's shoes -- listening to Rutherford bold statements at that district assembly.
