20droger wrote in post #13914760
Yes and no. They refer to the most common calendrical system, which is the Gregorian calendar, which is, as we know, erroneously based upon the birth of Christ. So in that sense, the C.E./B.C.E. system is, as you say, ironically purely a cosmetic change.
On the other hand, would you, as a Christian, like being forced to refer to another culture's deity as "Lord" in your everyday writing and speech? Well, neither do non-Christians like references to the Christ in something as mundane as dates.
The use of "C.E." and "B.C.E." is not simply PC-speak. It's a bit more germane than, for example, calling a housewife a "domestic engineer."
Now, you and I both know that the Gregorian calendar, while a vast improvement over the Julian calendar that preceded it, is still crap. It fails to meet it's basic objective, dating from the birth of Christ, by several years, and is incompatible with modern mensuration. Unfortunately, it's not likely to be replaced anytime soon. We all pretty much have to live with it, warts and all. What we don't have to do is rub it in the faces of all those who happen not to be Christians. After all, there are many more non-Christians than there are Christians. If it ever came up for a vote, the Christians would lose.
And please note that those who insist on using "A.D." and "B.C." because they honor Christ seem to have no trouble giving homage to various pagan gods in their casual everyday speech. Hypocrisy abounds, even unintentionally.
And a happy Freya's day to you all.
Yes and no. They refer to the most common calendrical system, which is the Gregorian calendar, which is, as we know, erroneously based upon the birth of Christ. So in that sense, the C.E./B.C.E. system is, as you say, ironically purely a cosmetic change.
On the other hand, would you, as a Christian, like being forced to refer to another culture's deity as "Lord" in your everyday writing and speech? Well, neither do non-Christians like references to the Christ in something as mundane as dates.
The use of "C.E." and "B.C.E." is not simply PC-speak. It's a bit more germane than, for example, calling a housewife a "domestic engineer."
Now, you and I both know that the Gregorian calendar, while a vast improvement over the Julian calendar that preceded it, is still crap. It fails to meet it's basic objective, dating from the birth of Christ, by several years, and is incompatible with modern mensuration. Unfortunately, it's not likely to be replaced anytime soon. We all pretty much have to live with it, warts and all. What we don't have to do is rub it in the faces of all those who happen not to be Christians. After all, there are many more non-Christians than there are Christians. If it ever came up for a vote, the Christians would lose.
And please note that those who insist on using "A.D." and "B.C." because they honor Christ seem to have no trouble giving homage to various pagan gods in their casual everyday speech. Hypocrisy abounds, even unintentionally.
And a happy Freya's day to you all.
Hi Roger - What you say does, of course, have a lot of sense (apart from using an apostrophe in the possessive 'its'
) but, a propos the last sentence, I very much doubt that many people use the expressions AD and BC because they honour Christ. I think, to most people, it's just a dating convention. In this context, I think Ricardo has it right inasmuch as 'many people seem happy to find an excuse to get upset over everyday things.'
!
