Posted on 03/03/2005 6:10:29 PM PST by A. Pole
I ran into this two years ago when my youngest daughter was a freshman in high school. The high school is a Catholic high school, and still, they were pushing the BCE.
It happened before in Soviet Union - the craddle of Separation of Church and State.
BCE means simply Before Christian Era.
"Didn't you know, "Thou shalt not offend or make uncomfortable or be insensitive to non-Christians" is one of the commandments of the PC Diversity religion to which the left bows down to?"
And don't forget, they'll be proudly displayed in every courthouse and government building in the land!!!
This is a nonsense and not courtesy. It is not COMMON era for "variety of faiths". Don't you know that that Muslims, Jews and others do NOT count time from birth of Christ?
If you are really so sensitive to non-Christians, why don't you propose to introduce other calendar Muslim for example? Or maybe it should be secular French Revolutionary Calendar with the ten days cycle in place of a seven days week (insensitive to those who reject the Creation story)?
I think that after the defeat of French Revolution and of Soviet system, the militant secularists decided to work on destroying Christian civilization through small steps.
I guess the American government should stop counting years according to the Christian calendar. What about chosing as year 1 the time of Roe Wade decision or the Lenin's coup d'etat?
The birth of Christ was a historic event, not just a religious one.
''A lot of people accept the reality of Jesus as a historical figure but don't accept him as Christ"
OK, so... B.J. would be acceptable?
I'll be dead in the cold ground before I use "C.E." and "B.C.E." I may start spelling out Anno Domini in response to this garbage.
Teacher: Now the (fill in blank) in (blank) were built in 1250 BCE...
Student: What is BCE?
Teacher:The common era.
Student: What is the common era?
Teacher: Ummmm... Uh.... The Christian era.
Main Entry: Christian era
Function: noun
Date: 1657
: the period dating from the birth of Christ
© 2001 by Merriam-Webster, Incorporated Merriam-Webster
No, it's ridiculously shallow PC - because they're still counting from the birth of Christ, just trying to hide or deny what they're doing.
Why should a non-Christian (to include Jews) be forced to use a dating system based upon a religion that they do not follow?
Before Current Erra (B.C.E) or Current Erra (C.E.), is much more generic.
Wake up -- it's still the same dating system! They're still counting from the birth of Christ - even though they're trying to cover up that fact with a ridiculous euphemism. If they want to ignore Christ, adopt the Chinese calendar, which starts counting thousands of years earlier (they're in year 4,000- something right now). But it's sophomoric and self-contradictory to say that we can't use a "dating system" that is founded on the belief that Christ is the hinge of history - - and then continue to count from the birth of Christ.
"Common Era" has no meaning. The era that starts at 1 CE is the Christian Era, even if they adopt a term that has no meaning, to try to deny that fact. If you're going to insist on politeness, as you claim to be doing, then let's have some politeness toward people, like me, who can't suffer fools or foolishness - or make-believe, meaningless terms like "common era"
They sould be more open and change it to what they really believe - BN and AN, Before Nothing and After Nothing.
What's really going on is that the Left hates Western Civilization and hates admitting that Christianity is the founding force of Western Civilization. Our dating system reflects the fact that the birth of Christianity triggered a revolutionary change in history - and led to the development of the culture that has culminated in the United States, with our unparalleled institutions and principles. The Left hates it all, and wants to try to erase it. Just like the European Constitution authors want to deny Christianity's role in the shaping of Europe - - - they got an earful from the Pope for their effort to deny historical truth.
Japan, China, and all other non-western civilizations have adopted our dating system.
However, using the term "Common Era" is a good compromise.
To be expected......Daniel 7:25
2453433.71446
Ask any astronomer, and they will explain to you why scientist us the Julian date for all event timings.
And China, by the way, still uses a dating system that ignores Christ's birth, but starts long before that. (In dealings with the West, they'll use the Christian dating system, but not internally)
I agree!
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