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Posted by /u/Arthur-reborn

How common was it in Vietnam to avoid being drafted by the Army by joining the Navy/Air force first?

My dad came from a poor family and turned 18 right at the height of the Vietnam era drafts. He knew he was most likely going to be drafted and there wasn't much he could do about it. So him and his brother both signed onto the Navy before he could get a draft notice. He ended up…

Posted by /u/Various_Implement_92

Why do Detroit, Chicago and Minneapolis have art institutes instead of museums?

I'm from New England and on a trip to Minneapolis I visited the Minneapolis Institute of Art, which is terrific. That got me thinking: Minneapolis, Chicago and Detroit are all institutes of art, unlike the major art museums in East Coast cities like New York, Boston and Philadel…

Posted by /u/ExternalBoysenberry

How Nazi were the Birkenstocks, relatively speaking? (Both the family and the shoes)

I get that we don't and can't have, like, a NYT "what percent Nazi are you?" needle. I'm also familiar with (and sympathetic to) that famous quote I'll paraphrase as: the term for the innumerable ordinary Germans who quietly loathed Hitler but out of fear or convenience went alo…

Posted by /u/i_like_tempeh

7yo daughter asking Jesus if there's an alternative to Holy Mass

My 7yo daughter left a letter by the cross in our prayer corner. She wrote: "Dear Jesus, Holy Mass is always so boring... is there another way to praise and worship you?" How would you handle this? Also, she asked Jesus himself, should I even react at all?

Posted by /u/yellowbai

Is there any consensus on why Caesar acted so insultingly before his assassination?

Caesar was a political gambler no doubt but he always seemed to have a grasp on reality. He was charming he had social skills. He was at pains to seduce everyone he met with his charm. Cicero went through phases of admiring him and being terrified of him. Then the year before he…

Posted by /u/Britto___Augustus

Why don’t Catholics socialise as much as Protestants

I am a convert from a protestant background. I grew up going to a CSI (Church of South India) church, which was a mix of presbyterian, methodist, and various other reformed churches. After the sunday service we used to always have a tea fellowship, getting to interact and social…

Posted by /u/-Razen-

Why didn't Germany during WW2 capitalize far more on sloped armor for their tanks?

The most notorious and known tanks of Germany are almost all using flat armour. The Tiger I, which rolled down the production lines in 1942, had a famously box-like appearance. Against smaller calibers, it's undoubtedly effective. But as soon as far more potent calibers appeared…

Posted by /u/Such-Classroom-4271

Prayed liturgy of the hours, and for St Maximilian's intercession and had a miracle happen this morning

Im a recent convert to catholocism and i just wanted to come here to report that last night i started the liturgy of the hours, and i prayed to God to take my drugs away or to do whatever He had to do to help me stop taking 7oh.... i used to be a fentanyl addict and got duped in…

Posted by /u/Known-Delay1371

How true is the claim “every culture had their own ‘great flood’ story”?

I’ve seen this claim in many places, from Internet forums to my very own family and I’ve never been able to figure out if it’s true or not. It’s the kind of thing that sounds just real enough to make you wonder but just vague enough to leave you with no idea where to start when…

Posted by /u/minisculebarber

Was slavery abolished multiple times in multiple places around Earth throughout human existence?

In "The Dawn of Everything" by David Graeber and David Wengrow write We’d never have guessed, for instance, that slavery was most likely abolished multiple times in history in multiple places However, they do not go into the claim nor do they provide sources. I do remember that…

Posted by /u/contortionsinblue

Lifelong Atheist Searching for God

Hi, 30 yr old dude here - really do not mean to be confrontational with this post. I was raised areligious and really was only brought to born again churches when I was younger, in high school. After both of my parents died and my grandparents, I feel something is pulling me to…

Posted by /u/FantasticContact5301

I have read on several occasions that the image of the ninja wearing all-black comes from a kabuki play where a stagehand suddenly enters the narrative of the story to kill someone and is revealed to have been a ninja. Is there any actual…

I am aware, of course, that the modern idea of “ninja” is not historically accurate. There were spies and scouts and even assassins, but the idea of the ninja is just the result of folklore over many years. I am also aware that kabuki theater portrays ninja characters in all bla…

Posted by /u/Tough_Story_1024

How did the St Thomas Christian Community of India survive?

How did the St. Thomas Christian Community survive while communities in China and some other parts of Asia disappeared?

Posted by /u/BackroomsCitizen

The Catholic response to panhandlers - a question

"Give to him who begs from you, and do not refuse him who would borrow from you." - Matthew 5:42 I live in a big city where panhandlers are at every corner and not all of them are homeless. Some even admit that they ask because people will give, and they stand in front of church…

Posted by /u/Beautiful-Finding-82

Unspoken "rule" to never discuss hell?

Today's gospel is quite the bomb-dropper. Angels gathering people and tossing them into hell yet no discussion on this whatsoever? Are we just going to keep pretending it's not serious business? Neither the mass homily nor my booklet that has the daily mass/commentary ever menti…

Posted by /u/Time_Dot621

Anyone else finds this faith depressing?

I’m very serious about it, go to mass daily, pray the rosary, divine office and so on. I do find Catholicism very intellectually stimulating, I love studying its history fascinating, and its philosophy full of precious fruits. Yet, the religious practice itself, makes me pretty…

Posted by /u/Wichiteglega

Is it true that bears were seen as divine figures in northern Europe like this book claim?

I am quite interested about the cultural history of bears, and I was intrigued by the book L'ours. Histoire d'un roi déchu by Michel Pastoureau, a French medievalist. The blurb on the back cover of the book says this, among other things: "In the Carolingian period, the bear was…

Posted by /u/_marsattacks

Should you ask your Guardian Angel their name?

I was always told not to ask their name or try and talk to them other than in prayer. However I just saw a video from a ‘Father Rocky’ explaining how to get your angels name, so im just curious if other Catholics do this?

Posted by /u/CatsDoingCrime

Why weren't the proposals of the "cybercommunists" adopted within the eastern bloc? To what extent was cybernetics utilized within said bloc? Finally, to what extent did cybersyn get implemented in Chile, and how was it viewed within the e…

Since you're on the internet, you are likely well aware that literally everything is kind of on fire right now. We're very much all living in a "old order dying, new one being born" moment. That brings with it obvious crisis, but also opportunity. And in this contemporary moment…

Posted by /u/No_Apricots_88

Attended a Protestant service with my In-Laws...

We have been visiting my in-laws for a couple of weeks and we went to their church this morning. (For the more curious of you, I think it's Pentecostal, I don't really know. They don't consider themselves part of a denomination, they're "just christian"). Here are a few thoughts…

Posted by /u/jmeyer73

Will God mind if I take a break?

Will God understand if I just take a break from religion? I'm very mentally ill and I'm getting professional help, but it will take months, maybe even years for me to be treated. I love Catholicism and I want to keep being a Catholic but religion has been very damaging to my men…

Posted by /u/walter_bitty

Would Homer's audience have understood sneaking into Troy inside a wooden horse as a crime or transgression?