So. Is it 2006 A.D. or 2006 C.E.?
 The Loft: by Bobby Eberle
April 19, 2006 at 6:44 am

In yet another measure to remove Christian references from society, not even the calendar year designation is safe. Whether you view it as political correctness run amok or part of the ongoing purge of all things Christian, some organizations including the Kentucky Board of Education are beginning to replace A.D. (anno Domini) with C.E. (common era). Even though the beginning of the historical dating system is the birth of Christ, I guess some feel that using C.E. will help neutralize that fact. What will people think of next???

As noted in the story Kentucky Education Officials Blasted for Modernizing Historical Dating System, the Kentucky Board of Education is under fire for approving a new, more contemporary system of describing historical dates in its public school curriculum.

Although the school board will also continue to use A.D. and B.C., "the board members decided to supplement the traditional dating method with C.E. or 'common era' and B.C.E., which stands for 'before the common era.'

The Board's vote means the new dating system will appear throughout Kentucky's curriculum and other materials used by educators across the state. This method of describing historical eras is already being included in textbooks across the United States, in what some opponents see as an effort to replace the birth of Christ as the dividing point in history.

The move has drawn reaction from Martin Cothran who serves as the senior policy analyst for the Family Foundation of Kentucky. Cothran fears that organizations like the ACLU will soon jump on the bandwagon, and we'll all be hearing about cases where using A.D. and B.C. are considered unconstitutional by the courts.

We put this on the same level with the whole war on Christmas and the idea that we can't call it Christmas anymore [but] have to call it the winter holiday or the winter solstice holiday," Cothran explains. This kind of substitution of terms associated with or derived from Christianity is simply a means of "hiding our cultural heritage from ourselves," Cothran contends.

According to Wikipedia, the term "common era" is growing in usage. The fact that the Western calendar is being used more as a global standard is cited by Wikipedia as a reason that dates "should be religiously and culturally neutral out of consideration for those cultures compelled to use it out of necessity."

Once again, it seems to me that people are either overtly trying to purge Christian references from society or they are being driven by fear of offending some group even if the offense does not exist. How many times have leaders of American Indian tribes stepped forward and said that usage of their names on sports teams does not offend them, and yet the "Sensitivity Police" still file lawsuits demanding the names be changed. In fact, the only group whose concerns seem to go unnoticed are the vast majority of people who are not offended by the historical dating system and only take offense when another attempt is made to remove a Christian reference.

What is really crazy is the following bullet item listed in the "support" section on Wikipedia under "common era": "Dating years according to Christian theology has the potential to be culturally divisive in worldwide use."

Don't people realize that changing from A.D. to C.E. doesn't change the fact that the system is still based on, to use their words, "dating years according to Christian theology?" If they are so offended by the dating system, why not rename 2006 as Year 1 and start over? The fact is that our system is based on Christ's birth, and these moves to change from A.D. to C.E. are feeble attempts to mask the true meaning of the calendar. Perhaps these groups should spend less time offending Christians and more time on issues that are important.