Humanities desk
< March 16	<< Feb \| March \| Apr >>	March 18 >

Welcome to the Wikipedia Humanities Reference Desk Archives
The page you are currently viewing is a transcluded archive page. While you can leave answers for any questions shown below, please ask new questions on one of the current reference desk pages.

March 17[edit]

Do any other religions have anything comparable to a baptism (and excluding marriage) in the first 20 years of one's life?[edit]

Do any religions other than Christianity have anything comparable to a baptism (and excluding marriage) in the first 20 years of one's life? I know that Jews have bar mitzvahs--and, in recent decades, bat mitzvahs as well--and also brit milahs for boys and also that Muslim boys also have their own circumcisions, but is there anything else in any non-Christian religion from within the first 20 years of one's life that's actually comparable to a baptism? I'm just wondering if this makes Christian centenarians and supercentenarians historically much easier to verify in comparison to centenarians and supercentenarians of various other religious groups.

Also, which Christian denominations do NOT have early-life baptisms? Because I know that Southern Baptists only baptized their members in early adulthood. Futurist110 (talk) 02:54, 17 March 2021 (UTC)[reply]

And for what it's worth, to my knowledge, some or even many Christian denominations also have their members undergo church confirmation in their early teenage years. For instance, Christian Mortensen was confirmed into his church at age 13 or 14 in 1896. Futurist110 (talk) 02:55, 17 March 2021 (UTC)[reply]

This question is of importance when researching and verifying the ages of centenarians (people aged 100+) and supercentenarians (people aged 110+). Even when birth registration didn't exist yet, baptismal records sometimes helped fill in the gap in regards to this for Christians–along with census records and other documentation, of course. But verifying non-Christian centenarians and supercentenarians without birth registration (such as Japan's koseki system) has been astronomically harder. Futurist110 (talk) 03:00, 17 March 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Infant baptism has some information about which denominations practise it, though the article is rather heavily tagged for lack or inadequacy of sources. AndrewWTaylor (talk) 12:23, 17 March 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Conversion to Judaism involves, in part, complete immersion in a ritual bath called a Mikveh. There are a lot of similarities to baptism. Cullen³²⁸ Let's discuss it 00:37, 18 March 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Sikhs go through the Amrit Sanskar. --24.76.103.169 (talk) 18:28, 23 March 2021 (UTC)[reply]

See also upsherin --Dweller (talk) Become old fashioned! 13:21, 18 March 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Longest imprisoned monarch[edit]

David II of Scotland was imprisoned for 11 years while remaining a reigning monarch. Are there any other imprisoned monarchs that were taken captive by enemies for longer? Also who was the last modern monarch to be held as a political prisoner while still technically remaining ruler. Not counting imprisonments after deposition. 69.209.14.47 (talk) 08:51, 17 March 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Mary, Queen of Scots was imprisoned for 19 years, until her beheading in 1587. AndrewWTaylor (talk) 12:17, 17 March 2021 (UTC)[reply]

I think you have to distinguish between imprisonment and exile. Mary's ill-fated journey to England which led to her incarceration was after her replacement by her son James VI (later James I of England). 146.199.206.3 (talk) 15:23, 17 March 2021 (UTC)[reply]

She was also deposed before her imprisonment so not a reigning monarch at the time.69.209.14.47 (talk) 04:21, 18 March 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks - I never knew (or had forgotten) that Mary was deposed, and that James VI and I became King of Scotland shortly after his first birthday. AndrewWTaylor (talk) 14:08, 18 March 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Walt Streightiff[edit]

Who was Walt Streightiff to whom the following quote is attributed: "There are no seven wonders in the world in the eyes of children; There are seven million." Is he the author of this quote? If so, where did he say or write this? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 37.209.28.110 (talk) 14:37, 17 March 2021 (UTC)[reply]

See Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Humanities/2007 July 23#Walt Streightiff - who is he?. Garrison Keillor writes about him here. --jpgordon^{𝄢𝄆 𝄐𝄇} 14:54, 17 March 2021 (UTC)[reply]

There are (or have been) several individuals named "Walt Streightiff", and I have not been able to establish a relation between any of them and this oft-quoted aphorism. Here he is referred to as "educator Walt Streightiff", but without indication of what this is based on. A Walt Streightiff is listed as one of the authors of Winners 38th Annual Poetry Contest Convention San Jose 1977. --Lambiam 09:12, 18 March 2021 (UTC)[reply]

US military in China (late-1930s/early-1940s)[edit]

US military in China (late-1930s/early-1940s) According to the 2010 film The Way Back set in the early-1940s, Smith decided to go to Lhasa with the help of one of the monk's contacts, who would smuggle him out through China. Once there, he anticipated he would be able to connect with the US military, his return to America ensured. 86.129.243.160 (talk) 20:26, 17 March 2021 (UTC)[reply]

That appears to be an accurate statement. Did you have a question? DOR (HK) (talk) 21:31, 17 March 2021 (UTC)[reply]

I suppose this is meant to be in response to the earlier question linked to, "Was there an American military mission in China during the late-1930s or early-1940s?" --Lambiam 15:21, 18 March 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Dixie Mission covers the later war years, but the military leader, David Barrett, served in China as early as 1924. In 1927, he served with the 15th Infantry Regiment in Tianjin under then-Lt. Col George C. Marshall and along side then-Major Joseph Stilwell. After studying in the US, he returned to Tianjin (1931-34), then served in Peiping (1934-37; later renamed Peking/Beijing), Hubei, and Sichuan (1937-43). DOR (HK) (talk) 20:03, 18 March 2021 (UTC)[reply]