I agree, since they are still talking about the birth of Christ, they are clearly changing it so as to be a clear and knowing insult to Christianity.
I can think of no reasonable reason to change the wording, without changing anything else, just so they can eliminate the word Christ.
Biblical scholars agree that Christ wasn’t born and didn’t die in 1 AD, so that’s the “official” reason for the whole BCE/CE thing.
But, we all know that the real reason is anti-Christianity. If they could, they’d switch us over to the muslim calendar (if there is such a thing—and I don’t care enough to Google it).
I asked a BCE/CE advocate what happened in 1 CE to force the change in calendars. Like most liberals, he didn’t know why he supports something. He just knows that the talking head on the TV box told him to!