bc, ad, ...bce?

[greenday]

I was watching Time Commanders on BBC2 last night and I'm sure one of the experts referred to the battle as having taken place in some year BCE. Does anyone know what BCE stands for? He definitely said BCE as there were other people in the room at the same time who heard the same thing. Perhaps it was just a mispronounciation. Thanks in advance.

[kempie]

BCE stands for "Before the common era" and is identical in value to BC. It tends to be used by Christians who want a notation that does not offend or distress persons of other religions. How very PC!

[El D]

Or atheists who don't really want to measure time using a religious figures birthday. I use it.

[marmaduke]

But of course, why not stick with BC and AD, as most people understand them, and they're not so very, very offensive? I mean, if we want to, we could stop referring to July as such, as we might prefer not to honour Julius Caesar in that way. Or be against the pagan gods which lend their names to our days of the week. Political correctness is just so much hard work.

[kempie]

El D - I'm not overly fond of Napoleon yet I still use the metric system!

[El D]

dont get me wrong, I dont cross it out everytime I see it and start steaming at the ears. I would just prefer religious terminology be kept out of everyday life. Every little helps ;)

[jno]

Not that anyone thinks Christ was actually born in 1AD. As for the Common Era, who is it common to? Not Muslims or Jews, for a start; they have their own time measurements, based on the hejira and the creation respectively. So if they use BC/AD dates, they're still acknowledging Christ's (non-)birthday, under another name. Silly.

[Gevs1966]

El D, why should a traditionally christian country not use christian terminology in its language?

 

Do you not realise that you are measuring time using a religious figures birthday whether you call it BC or BCE as they are identical in value anyway. Can it really offend anyone?? Do people really have an over abundant lack of tolerance for the traditional culture that they are living in that everything has to be changed for the minority??

[jno]

Hard to say that non-Christians are a minority - weekly church attendances for the Church of England (the official, established church) are below a million in Britain, I believe, which leaves more than 50 million outside. Perhaps ditching Christian references is just recognising reality, even if 2005 is still 2005.

[El D]

Well its just like referring to Christmas as Xmas, it removes all religious inference from it even though it originated as a religious date/period. I doubt very much we are a predominantly xstian country. I reiterate - it does not offend me, I just feel that its time to progress and remove such religious terminology from everyday life.

[kempie]

I do not profess to be be practicing Christian but the whole Xmas thing ticks me off... if people cannot be bothered to call it Christmas they shouldn't bother celebrating it also. But since it has been hijacked for materialistic gain I'm sure that's not going to happen.

[landie]

I think that too many people get offended too easily over nothing.