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I agree Phid, BC and AD should not be removed from History text books or academic papers, but CE and BCE are fine if it is what you prefer.
I agree that political correctness is the reason for the change. There are many who want to remove any sign of Christianity from our culture. My daughter is a high school student and all she knows is BCE and CE. Of course, it all reminds me of the attempt to push the metric system on the US. Except for 2 liter sodas, it has pretty much failed.
This issue has gnawed on my mind for the past few years. I still cannot see a plausible reason for using “C.E.” and “B.C.E.” outside the modernist argument that “B.C.” and “A.D.” somehow “offends” people. That argument is ridiculous, however, as I am offended when scholars used C.E. and B.C.E. As I make my way into academia, I will continue to use B.C. and A.D. as chronological designations, except perhaps in situations where I am threatened that I must use the more modern system. In such cases I would simply explain that there are plenty of contemporary scholars who continue to use B.C. and A.D., and that I am unconvinced by the argument for the newer system. If that didn't work, I could use BCE and CE temporarily before resorting back to BC and AD.See the inconveniences political correctness has brought us, all in the name of "hurt feelings"?
I too will use BC and AD all the time unless instructed otherwise. Of course if the instructor says he prefers CE and BCE then I'll definitley use BC and AD (and maybe even be a wiseguy and place it in bold).I imagine that only those (westerners or not) who are specializing in Eastern, Asian, or maybe Islamic history would be required to use the newer designations. I would feel more "scholarly" when writing about the first or second year of Islamic history if I were to use the Islamic calendar (Hijra?) instead of A.D. 622 or A.D. 623 (or however that works), but I wouldn't do it just to be politically correct.
I can't really think of a major reason why other than to remove traces of Christian-historical interpretation from the study of history.
You nailed it right here. The attempt to get rid of BC & AD is ideologically motivated. I refuse to use BCE and CE and have had to explain myself to several professors who prefer the modern system. I even had one professor drop me a letter grade because I used BC & AD, nevertheless I challenged him to my school's provost and won. I look at the attempt to remove BC & AD as an attack on Western Culture. It is essentially trying to remove and remake the way we think about time itself.If I were a professor and a student wanted to use BCE & CE I would let them but ask them to explain why they prefer that to the almost universally accepted conventions. I am certain that they would provide some multicultural line about BC & AD being western oriented and exclusive. That is the line I got from my professor. She claimed that using BC & AD was discriminatory against non-christian readers of my work and that is why she insisted on using BCE & CE. I called hogwash.
So does this mean if I use “the third year of the 113th Olympiad” you guys are gonna jump all over my case?
So does this mean if I use "the third year of the 113th Olympiad" you guys are gonna jump all over my case?
Depends on your audience doesn't it? ;D And which Olympiad, modern or ancient?
.... She claimed that using BC & AD was discriminatory against non-christian readers of my work and that is why she insisted on using BCE & CE. I called hogwash.
And rightly so!
I even had one professor drop me a letter grade because I used BC & AD, nevertheless I challeneged him to my school's provost and won.
That is what I'm afraid of....
She claimed that using BC & AD was discriminatory against non-christian readers of my work and that is why she insisted on using BCE & CE.
Did you tell her that if that were true, using the words January, February, Saturday, etc. is discriminatory against non-pagans? I don't think that people bat an eye when it comes to using pagan-derived words....only when it comes to the Christian-derived words.
She claimed that using BC & AD was discriminatory against non-christian readers of my work and that is why she insisted on using BCE & CE.
Did you tell her that if that were true, using the words January, February, Saturday, etc. is discriminatory against non-pagans? I don't think that people bat an eye when it comes to using pagan-derived words....only when it comes to the Christian-derived words.
No, I didn't get that deep into it with her. I was satisfied with taking it to the provost and getting my grade reinstated. I did not feel the need to push it any farther than that. Sometimes it is enough to simply accept a victory. I am very curious if she still pulls that crap with other students though. I would guess that she does and simply changes the grade when challenged.
Did this happen in a class recently? And what did the provost say when you brought it to his/her attention? It sounds like the professor must have been on an ideological mission. I would not be surprised to hear a professor give a recommendation about using one particular system, but to dock a person's score an entire letter grade is really a “do or die” tactic.
No this happened early in my undergrad. The Provost backed me in my claim that BC & AD is the most common and recognized dating convention. The professor is a typical post-modernist. She also lectured me and the other students about ensuring that our work was gender neutral and free of stereotypes. This was an English class and you can imagine the flips you go through to sanitize writing, it definitely yakes any originality out of it.
