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Archiver > GEN-MEDIEVAL > 1999-12 > 0946529353


From: "R. Ben Madison" <>
Subject: Re: Millennium: A Proposal
Date: Wed, 29 Dec 1999 22:49:13 -0600


John Steele Gordon wrote in message <>...
> wrote:

>> Anyway, enough of this nonsense. I favor a new calandar based on
something
>> other that a religious event that many folk on the world do not believe
in.

>Well, the birth of Christ was a real event. Whether he was the son of
>God is another kettle of fish, of course. That's one reason I can't
>stand "BCE" and "CE." The calendar the world uses is zeroed (OK, OK,
>"oned") on the birth of Christ. BC merely, and accurately, says the year
>in question was before this historical event. AD, to be sure, implies an
>acceptance of Christ's divinity. But AC would work fine. The "common
>era" is nonsense. What's common about it? It's simply a typically
>tin-eared attempt to be politically correct.

Hear, hear.

When my students ask me what "CE" and "BCE" stand for, I say "Christian Era"
and "Before the Christian Era." :-)

Can you imagine the Islamic nations changing the designation Anno Hegirae
(or its Arabic equivalent) to please some Christian complainers?

R. Ben Madison

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