2007-03-02 13:09:20 · 14 answers · asked by sahara_springs 3 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
I don't see any reason to. Are you offended by us using the names of gods for days of the week, or months of the year? Do you not use the name "Tuesday" because you don't believe in the Norse god Tiw? Do you not use the name "January" because you don't believe in the Roman god Janus? If not, then I don't see why you would be offended by us using another etymologically religious name for dating. People who use the BCE/CE system are being rather silly, actually--they are, if anything, making the terminology even more offensive and religiously insensitive, by implying that the era following Jesus' birth is somehow the "common era". What makes everything from 2000 years ago on "common", and everything below that not? If anything, it's much more insensitive and culturally ignorant because it ascribes more significance to the year than the simple historical fact that some people (erroneously) thought that Jesus was born during a certain year, and thus dated our calendars from that. It's no more offensive than the "A.U.C." system which was used by the Romans based on the standard of a similarly mythic event--the founding of Rome by Romulus and Remus. Yet you can use A.U.C. without actually believing in that myth, in the same way that you can use A.D. and B.C. without being a Christian.
2007-03-02 13:14:00 · answer #1 · answered by Rob Diamond 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I'm satisfied with the BCE/CE notation. It removes the presumption of the Xian god without the disruption of actually changing the calendar.
CE stands for "Common Era," which refers to when Xianity and Judaism began their shared history. Some Xians prefer to think of "CE" as "Christian Era." Either sense is fine with me as a non-believer, because they refer only to history. (That we don't know when, or even if, Jesus was born is not a problem, because the calendar is linked not to the birth of Jesus, but to the reign of Diocletian.) "Before Christ" and "Anno Domini" presume that the user of the calendar buys into the religion.
2007-03-02 13:54:19 · answer #2 · answered by RickySTT, EAC 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It really already doesn't. Jesus was 4 years old when the years flipped from BCE to CE.
Also, the Sabbath really is on Saturday, not Sunday. The first claimed Christian Roman Emperor, Constantine changed it, because he really believed in the Sun God(Helios).
2007-03-02 13:16:55 · answer #3 · answered by icman87 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Probably not, as the calendar we currently used is based as strongly in tradition as well as in religion. During the French revolution, a secular calendar called the Republican Calendar was created with a consistency in the number of days in a month and year, but it failed miserably as the Christian calendar was already used and there was no significant reason to stop using it.
2007-03-02 13:14:33 · answer #4 · answered by tsbski 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
I already tried this, but 3/2/4,500,000,007 ended up being a bit cumbersome, so I just use the current system.
2007-03-02 13:14:20 · answer #5 · answered by Nick F 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
If you want. It'll just make things more difficult. This is the year 5767, if you would like to go by my (Jewish) calendar. It's the one I use when possible, and it counts from when Jewish history begins.
B.C.E. (before common era) counts from the time of Jewish history to the time of Xtian history.
C.E. (common era) counts Xtian history.
2007-03-02 16:07:59 · answer #6 · answered by LadySuri 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
why don't you believe in Christ? Even an atheist can understand that Jesus lived.
2007-03-02 13:23:53 · answer #7 · answered by Jennifer D 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
They did. It used to be BC= before Christ, now it is BCE = Before Current Era.
Just because you hide all reminders of Him doesn't make Him go away.
2007-03-02 13:12:32 · answer #8 · answered by BaseballGrrl 6 · 2⤊ 2⤋
No because the last time I checked the world does NOT...I repeat......DOES NOT.....revolve around you. I'm sorry if this comes as a shock to you but that's just the way it is.
2007-03-02 13:18:11 · answer #9 · answered by Barry DaLive 5 · 0⤊ 2⤋
No. Its easier to keep it. And it will serve as an eternal reminder of our past ignorance.
2007-03-02 13:12:24 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋