B.C. or B.C.E

[Perseus]

What do you think the official date thing should be? Should it be B.C.(Before Christ) or B.C.E.(Before Common Era). Also, take in A.D.(I have forgotten the acronym) and C.E.(Common Era)
Now, I bring this up because I was reading a book about the Roman's Religion and their gods and at the beginning it said, "we will use B.C.E.(Before Common Era) (because Rome was an amazing empire(and so was the Greeks))since their is a diversity of religions in the world and we don't want to offend anyone."

Ok, if they(I don't know who they is) changed it to B.C.E, we wouldn't be on the same calendar scale because it is based off Jesus' birth, but I am not entirely sure on that; so please, correct me if I'm super wrong, then I'd change my opinion to where it should be B.C.E.
But anyway, it'd be confusing. The Muslims have a different calendar system because it is based of when Muhamamd(?) became the prophet, I think, once again,correct me if I'm wrong.(so many commas lol)

OK, so time for super special awesome debate that will last probally three days! :D


I will keep a sorta kinda in a way poll down here because my opinion will likely change, or not, but anyway, yeah! Post what you believe and explain because I don't want any uselessness clogging up my thread.


B.C. - Sapphire
B.C.E -
I don't know -
I don't care - Pseudonym, Shattered, Camazotz, and theOperaGhost

[Mzor203]

Both B.C. and B.C.E. are exactly the same... the only thing different about them is the name. Both of these ways of marking the year are based off of the same year 0 - the birth of Christ.

I'm not religious, but I think it's silly to try to change this thing and confuse people when the meaning is still the same...

For reference, A.D. stands for Anno Domini, (which in English (Anno Domini is Latin) means 'year of our lord').

So to sum up, I really don't care which anyone uses. The meaning of the same, so in the end it doesn't matter and makes absolutely no difference.

[Oblivion]

^^ Agreed. It's fine with me, even though I'm not Christian.
Plus, if we went by when the earth was formed, we would be writing billion-long numbers on our papers every day :P

[Perseus]

What y'all just said made a lot of since...
I guess, honestly, it woudn't make a difference but the whole B.C.E. thign would ocnfuse people because they odn't know what it means, even my 7th grade social studies teacher didn't know what it meant.
And Pseudonym, thanks for telling me what A.D. stands for.

[Curthose93]

The current is year 2331 CE, right?

[theOperaGhost]

I could really care less.

I'm not exactly sure how it was determined, because as far as I know, Jesus was born in like 6 B.C....I really don't think it matters.

[Mzor203]

The current is year 2331 CE, right?

No. It is currently 2009 C.E.

[Sapphire]

I vote that we keep it as B.C. more because that's the way it has always been and no one's ever been offended by it. Changing it to B.C.E. is political correctness gone mad.No. It is currently 2009 C.E.
Actually it's 2009 B.C or B.C.E

[Perseus]

I vote that we keep it as B.C. more because that's the way it has always been and no one's ever been offended by it. Changing it to B.C.E. is political correctness gone mad.
Actually it's 2009 B.C or B.C.E

Why do you think that? We are currently in the "common era", or A.D.
But please, explain why you think it is B.C. or B.C.E. at the moment.

[theOperaGhost]

I vote that we keep it as B.C. more because that's the way it has always been and no one's ever been offended by it. Changing it to B.C.E. is political correctness gone mad.
Actually it's 2009 B.C or B.C.E

It is currently 2009 A.D., not B.C. or B.C.E.

[Sapphire]

Gah, sorry I've not been with it today! I meant 2009 A.D.

[Camazotz]

Actually it's 2009 B.C or B.C.E

Why do you think that? We are currently in the "common era", or A.D.
But please, explain why you think it is B.C. or B.C.E. at the moment.

It is currently 2009 A.D., not B.C. or B.C.E.

Gah, sorry I've not been with it today! I meant 2009 A.D.

Proof that it really doesn't matter, as long as we have one, uniform calender. I couldn't care less (the correct expression) because it doesn't insult or offend me. We must decide one and use it every time.

[Mzor203]

Gah, sorry I've not been with it today! I meant 2009 A.D.

Yes, however, 2009 C.E. is still perfectly correct. It's interchangeable.

[Oblivion]

As Rex pointed out, both are referring to Christ, so either way it's politically incorrect.
Except since people are rarely offended I don't see a problem :P

[Perseus]

I'm surprised a lot of y'all don't want it to be B.C.E.

[Mzor203]

I'm surprised a lot of y'all don't want it to be B.C.E.

Why? Who wants to go to the trouble of changing something that's been the same for thousands of years? If it ain't broken, don't fix it.

[Perseus]

Well, actually that was stupid of me to say. No one on this website is a extremist atheist that wants change to anything that is accustomned(horrible spelling, I know) to God.

[Oblivion]

As Rex pointed out, both are referring to Christ, so either way it's politically incorrect.
Except since people are rarely offended I don't see a problem :P

Lol that's why I don't care.

Actually, even if there was the option between BC and something that relates to the beginning of the earth, I would vote for BC out of ease of dating... :P

[theOperaGhost]

I'm surprised a lot of y'all don't want it to be B.C.E.

Why? Who wants to go to the trouble of changing something that's been the same for thousands of years? If it ain't broken, don't fix it.

I agree with Jake...I do find it quite shocking that everyone so far has said it doesn't bother them that it is "before Christ." Most everyone on here thinks nothing in the world should have something influenced by religion.

[Oblivion]

I stress again... Both are referring to Christ. Regardless of wording, the starting date of either calender is referring to Christ's birth.
So it doesn't matter to me, because either way it involves religion.

[theOperaGhost]

I stress again... Both are referring to Christ. Regardless of wording, the starting date of either calender is referring to Christ's birth.
So it doesn't matter to me, because either way it involves religion.

But you see, as far as I know, Jesus was supposedly born in about 6 B.C or something like that, so that doesn't even make sense.

[Oblivion]

Well it's still centered around a religious concept either way :P
So changing it would just be hard and pointless.

[Perseus]

How would it be hard?
Old books, yes, but not current ones.
Actually, current textbooks(and non-fiction books) use C.E. and B.C.E system.

[Oblivion]

No I mean if we were going to change it so it wasn't centered around religion it would be hard.
Otherwise it's pointless.

[Perseus]

Most calendars are based off of religion except for the French Revolution one(in a way) lol.

[Antares]

I have always seen and heard B.C. but now that I think about it, I would prefer B.C. because...
Whos christ?!?!?!?!?
What signifigance does he have on modern peoples? What changed when this "christ" happened?

I think Common Era is much more specific andd accurate.

[Oblivion]

I have always seen and heard B.C. but now that I think about it, I would prefer B.C. because...
Whos christ?!?!?!?!?
What signifigance does he have on modern peoples? What changed when this "christ" happened?

I think Common Era is much more specific andd accurate.


Jesus Christ?
Like, the most important person of Christianity, which is worshiped by millions of people?
:P

But like Rex said regardless of what you call it, they both circle around religion, and no matter what we call it it always will, unless we change how we record time and change what year it is.

[Mzor203]

Who cares when he was born really, as long as there is a definitive year 0, which there is in both cases.

[Curthose93]

Jesus Christ?
Like, the most important person of Christianity, which is worshiped by millions of people?
:P



Uhm, don't you mean the "god" who is worshipped by billions?

Anyway, I believe that other years could be 'year one', rather than the apparently incorrect birthdate of a possibly non-existent person.

Maybe the end of the Roman Empire in 476 CE? The death of Alexander the Great in 323 BCE? The end of WW2, or the dropping of the atomic bombs on Japan, even? There are other events and people which have shaped the Western world who everybody knows really existed.

[Oblivion]

Uhm, don't you mean the "god" who is worshipped by billions?

No... I don't... I mean Jesus Christ who is worshiped by Christians, because that's what were talking about. Jesus isn't considered a god as far as I know.
(Also, "billions" is quite awkward to say in this situation, since there are 2.1 billion Christians, and although it's technically more than one billion, usually billions refer to tens or hundreds of billions, not 2 billion. And, correcting me on the minor flaw makes the argument look silly. Just saying ;))

[The Batman]

I rather keep it as it is B.C.E. is stupid and useless because what defines common era besides our warped perception of reality?

[Sapphire]

Yes, however, 2009 C.E. is still perfectly correct. It's interchangeable.

How would it be hard?
Old books, yes, but not current ones.
Actually, current textbooks(and non-fiction books) use C.E. and B.C.E system.I have never seen C.E. used in any text (aside from this thread) and I think many people would get confused if they heard/saw it.

I have always seen and heard B.C. but now that I think about it, I would prefer B.C. because...
Whos christ?!?!?!?!?
What signifigance does he have on modern peoples? What changed when this "christ" happened?

I think Common Era is much more specific andd accurate.Jesus is important to the millions of Christians and Muslims out there and they make up the majority of the global population. Christians follow him as being the Son of God and the Muslims regard him as a prophet.

No... I don't... I mean Jesus Christ who is worshiped by Christians, because that's what were talking about. Jesus isn't considered a god as far as I know.
(Also, "billions" is quite awkward to say in this situation, since there are 2.1 billion Christians, and although it's technically more than one billion, usually billions refer to tens or hundreds of billions, not 2 billion. And, correcting me on the minor flaw makes the argument look silly. Just saying ;))Actually, he is considered to be God. Christians believe in one God and they also believe that God has three "parts" as it were: God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. Jesus is God the Son - sent down by God the Father to die on earth for us.

[Curthose93]

No... I don't... I mean Jesus Christ who is worshiped by Christians, because that's what were talking about. Jesus isn't considered a god as far as I know.
(Also, "billions" is quite awkward to say in this situation, since there are 2.1 billion Christians, and although it's technically more than one billion, usually billions refer to tens or hundreds of billions, not 2 billion. And, correcting me on the minor flaw makes the argument look silly. Just saying ;))


What argument?

[Camazotz]

I have to agree with Nick. Since they are both based on the year 0, the supposed birth of Jesus Christ, the calender would still involve the Christian calender. To change it to the scientific year would be completely irrational. The year would be 4.5 billion or so, which would also mean changing every text we have. It would be too much trouble.