Anno Stupiditas

Scott Hardie | August 7, 2005
Not that we have often have need to write AD before a year anyway, but as I've been researching history lately for a side project, I wonder whether you favor the traditional AD or the newer CE. The idea is that the term "Common Era" doesn't risk offense because of its lack of religious connotation, but it still uses the same years. Every time I read it, I wonder who is so offended by the use of Anno Domini that we need a pretend term, even one that still uses Christ's misestimated birthday as a starting point. Are the days of the week not religiously named? Are the months of the year not religiously named? Who's offended?

Michael Paul Cote | August 8, 2005
Scott,
Haven't you realized by now that no matter what, someone is going to be offended?

John E Gunter | August 8, 2005
Scott,
Haven't you realized by now that no matter what, someone is going to be offended?

At the risk of drawing Scott's wrath, Mike, I'm offended by that! ;-D

Couldn't resist, and I'm not sorry!

Shame people can't find better things to do than have problems with say oh, someone else's religious beliefs, sexual behavior between consenting adults, eating habits, exercise or lack there of habits, or anything that makes us a society of different individuals. They ought to be happy for what others want to do so long as it's not infringing on your freedom to do what you want to do or harming society as a whole!

John

Scott Horowitz | August 8, 2005
it's 5755... that's the year!

Scott Hardie | August 8, 2005
But that's just the thing. I don't believe that anybody is offended by anno domini, or reasonably could be. So why bother to defang it with a transparently politically-correct replacement? That's like deciding to use the term "eumelanin-disadvantaged" when nobody seems to mind the word blond. According to Wikipedia, the term "common era" began so that Christians and Jews could share a messianically-neutral term when discussing years... But as Scott pointed out, Christians and Jews don't even share the same years anyway, so really, what's the point? The only groups who aren't going to mind that "common era" is still based on Christ's birth are Christians and people who don't give a shit, and these are the same two groups who wouldn't mind anno domini either. Again I ask, for whom is the term being changed? I'm baffled.

Kris Weberg | August 12, 2005
I can tell you that it's changed primarily to respect those people in, say, Africa, Asia, and so on where Christianity is far from a majoritarian faith but where economic necessity dictates participation in the most common dating scheme, the one that, for many of them, came in at the end of a European gun barrel.

Jackie Mason | August 12, 2005
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