Comment I found on an article.
Comment by: J. F. Gecik
Although there is a lot of factual information in this article, some of it can easily be misleading to young readers here -- folks who have seen only (or mainly) "C.E." and "B.C.E." in their textbooks, in museums, etc.. The article fails to make clear to the generations of current students and young adults -- and to generations of the future -- that the FREQUENT use of "C.E." and "B.C.E." is a VERY RECENT phenomenon.
I was born in 1951, and I can honestly say that I NEVER came across "C.E." or "B.C.E." until the 1990s! When I first saw them and learned what they meant, I was shocked and disgusted, because this appeared to me to be an action that was blatantly anti-Christian and/or that showed a disrespectful lack of consideration for tradition and for Christianity. I also realized that, if these abbreviations were to become widespread, there would be vast numbers of young people who would not know the meanings of "A.D." and "B.C." in published books, etc..
During the last fifteen or twenty years, a more and more frequent use of C.E./B.C.E. has been forced upon a predominantly undesirous and offended public. Why has this happened?
1. In the last two decades, there has been a slight, but noticeable, growth in the number of non-Christian (but religion-practicing) people in the U.S. -- especially Buddhists, Hindus, and Moslems, but not Jews (who are down from 3% to about 1.5% of the population, due to widespread abortion, contraception, and conversion).
2. Also during this time period, there has been a noticeable increase in the number of Americans who claim to be atheists or agnostics -- and many of these people are vehement anti-Christians.
3. The increases in the percentages of the aforementioned groups (non-Christian religious people, non-religious people, and anti-religious people) have been even more dramatic in Canada and Great Britain, two countries that have a surprisingly large [and, I would say, too often damaging] influence upon certain powerful people within the U.S..
Nowadays, there are many politically ultra-liberal Christians, religious non-Christians, and anti-religious people in influential positions (media, academia, law, publishing, etc.) who have chosen to bend over backwards to avoid offending non-Christians. It is these people who, for about two decades, have been widely spreading the C.E./B.C.E. abbreviations. Ironically, these people have NOT cared about the offense (or at least annoyance) that they have caused the [I would estimate] 90% of Americans who desire to continue using "B.C." and "A.D." It is more important for these "elites" to be seen as super-tolerant and/or to "punish" Christianity (which some of them hate so much).
I will continue to use "B.C." and "A.D." (only) for the rest of my life, and I encourage ALL readers here to do the same, ignoring the inconsiderate people who have been trying to force something undesired upon 90% of us.
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