C.E. / B.C.E.

[Jason Tandro]

I don't know if anybody is aware of this (I only found out yesterday) but apparently in academia there is a new term being used to replace BC and AD in our dating methods.

B.C.E. replaces BC and C.E. replace AD.

Here's a full run down.

--------------------------------------------------------------
|Examples of the old dating method.
|
|500 BC (Before Christ)
|AD 2010 (Anno Domini- "Year of our Lord")
|
|Examples of the current dating method.
|
|500 BCE (Before Common Era)
|CE 2010 (Common Era)
--------------------------------------------------------------

I can see both sides of the argument, but I still think it's silly. Of course the reasoning behind this is to remove the Christian reference in a world filled with all faiths and on that front I can certainly see the logic to it.

But what bothers me is the inherent flaw in the plan. Calling it "common era" and "before common era" still makes it evident that recorded history is still centered around the birth of Christ. If we really want to be neutral, why not just return to the Hebrew calendar?

This is an example of wanting the remove religion so fervently they ignore the indelable impact it has on a society and I, for one, will never adhere to these terms.

[SoulBlazerFan]

Actually, BC stands for something else. Alot of people assume that... but you have to figure, BC had to have stood for something else before that... I'm fairly certain the whole world uses BC, and BC existed long before the English language... or it could be my rusty history talking.

I just think BC has some sort of Latin derivative that I'm just not remembering.

[Mantaray]

they've been wanting to do that for years :\ but i don't really see any reason to. just because it's religious doesn't mean a darned thing. BC just feels a lot more traditional. CE just sounds... crappy and political

[psychokind]

more than unnecessary. I hope they won't do it in germany, all of our early history records exist only because of the catholic church. it's a fair tribute to name it christ.

[EverPhoenix]

im not christian or religious or anything, but i dont see a point in changing something established. and, it works.

if you ask me, the 'common era' should technically not start at the alleged birth of Christ, but more around the renaissance

[Reshi]

The whole 'removing the christian reference" is uncalled for. The Gregorian Calendar is based on Christianity. So why not leave it as that?

[Mantaray]

if they're going to get rid of religion from out of our time system, then they might as well start coming up with new names for months of the year. since, you know, those names came from GREEK religion. or was it roman...? either way, it's RELIGIOUS!!! i think the days of the week were just named after the planets, so they'll probably leave that alone... then again... they have gods named after planets, too. oh my, more religion. let's get rid of those. just think, all the new children will be deprived of important history... it's a fabulous idea!

[SoulBlazerFan]

EverPhoenix wrote:

im not christian or religious or anything, but i dont see a point in changing something established. and, it works.

Don't forget about the loss of Pluto as a planet.

That's something that's been established for over fifty years... this has been for centuries, if not for two milleniums. I agree it's stupid.

If they are going to do it, at least change the year back to 1. Maybe when we move into outerspace in giant colonies... we can call it "After Colony 1," or AC 1 for short.

[psychokind]

sora-mage wrote:

if they're going to get rid of religion from out of our time system, then they might as well start coming up with new names for months of the year. since, you know, those names came from GREEK religion. or was it roman...? either way, it's RELIGIOUS!!! i think the days of the week were just named after the planets, so they'll probably leave that alone... then again... they have gods named after planets, too. oh my, more religion. let's get rid of those. just think, all the new children will be deprived of important history... it's a fabulous idea!

don't forget the days, they come from german mythology

[Jason Tandro]

@sora-mage: Actually you're right either way. It's a mix. The Greeks used a 10-month calendar but two (most importantly Augustus, which later became August) were named after Roman Caesers.

The Planets are named after Roman Gods, and Pluto was the God of the underworld. Only now he's not a planet and therefore not a God. So nobody watches out for the dead people anymore. And that's why there are zombies. Pluto is pissed.

@psychokind: Ah yeah! Vodinsday (which became Wednesday) and so forth.

I'm suddenly understanding what you all meant by America has no culture. All the cool stuff comes from the Eastern Hempisphere. The closest we have is the Native American lore.

[psychokind]

Jason Tandro wrote:

@psychokind: Ah yeah! Vodinsday (which became Wednesday) and so forth. I'm suddenly understanding what you all meant by America has no culture. All the cool stuff comes from the Eastern Hempisphere. The closest we have is the Native American lore.

actually, wednesday is a funny example. while it's coming from wodan, in germany it's called "Mittwoch", which means middleweek. it's the middle of the week, yeah this has christian origin somehow.

[Jason Tandro]

psychokind wrote:

Jason Tandro wrote: @psychokind: Ah yeah! Vodinsday (which became Wednesday) and so forth. I'm suddenly understanding what you all meant by America has no culture. All the cool stuff comes from the Eastern Hempisphere. The closest we have is the Native American lore. actually, wednesday is a funny example. while it's coming from wodan, in germany it's called "Mittwoch", which means middleweek. it's the middle of the week, yeah this has christian origin somehow.

Saturday was the original Sabbath, but somehow it got changed to Sunday. Anybody know how that happened? My theory is God wanted to keep people from being able to watch Football. Devout fans have done some highly unChristian things in the heat of the sport.

Actually they've beaten and persecuted people who support a different team... that's VERY Christian! (Am I channeling Ratty Randnums or something?)