United Kingdom: Dates Referring to Christ are Increasingly Endangered
In the United Kingdom, the religious reference in dates is gradually disappearing in the schools. Instead of saying “before Christ” (“B.C.”) or “in the year of the Lord” (Anno Domini, “A.D.”), it is becoming increasingly common to use the expressions “Before the Common Era” (“B.C.E.”) and “Common Era” (“C.E.”).
In an article published on October 1, 2017, in the columns of a British newspaper Daily Mail, some “local education commissions” judged that the reference to Christ could hurt “the feelings of representatives of non-Christian minorities and of non-believers”.
When questioned by the conservative daily paper, the former Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury, George Carey, described this “development” as “very shameful”. “I have never met a Jewish or Muslim leader who could feel offended by the Gregorian calendar,” he declared. This position is shared by some representatives of religious minorities. Thus one imam, Ibrahim Mora, readily admitted that he “did not think that a Muslim could feel injured” by the traditional system of dates. A spokesperson of the Board of Deputies of British Jews assured the reporter that the representatives of that religion had “no problem” with the use of the terms “before or after Jesus Christ” in the schools.
The Daily Mail also published the testimony of a famous BBC announcer, John Hymphrys, who regrets the fact that he has already used “this ridiculous (new) expression” and admits being “angry” at himself for having done so. The British daily newspaper recalls that, as early as 2011, The Mail on Sunday had revealed that on the “religion and ethics” pages of BBC website the famous media conglomerate suggested using CE and BCE so as not to “offend or alienate non-Christians”.
Sources : cath.ch/dailymail /FSSPX.News - 11/15/17
