More PC........Old Story Maybe, Could Be Contentious.

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NATURAL ANKLING
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More PC........Old Story Maybe, Could Be Contentious.

Post by NATURAL ANKLING »

Hi,
Not a lot but a bit bored in front of TV :mrgreen:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/religio ... tians.html

"BBC drops Anno Domini and Before Christ to avoid offending non-Christians

The BBC has been accused of bowing to political correctness after it emerged that it was discouraging the use of the terms BC and AD for fear of offending non-Christians.
"
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661-Pete
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Re: More PC........Old Story Maybe, Could Be Contentious.

Post by 661-Pete »

This link appears to be nearly six years old. Any reason to 'resurrect' it now?
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NATURAL ANKLING
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Re: More PC........Old Story Maybe, Could Be Contentious.

Post by NATURAL ANKLING »

Hi,
661-Pete wrote:This link appears to be nearly six years old. Any reason to 'resurrect' it now?

Sorry wanted to draw attention to the subject of timeline and its so called offence apparent to NON Christians?
Just happens the link is old.

http://www.historytoday.com/michael-ost ... whose-lord

Its an old link but does that mean we only discuss what is contemporary or in the now................
Subject might be contentious but it does not change the time line origin.
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PH
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Re: More PC........Old Story Maybe, Could Be Contentious.

Post by PH »

NATURAL ANKLING wrote:Its an old link but does that mean we only discuss what is contemporary or in the now................

So, it's been six years and no one has noticed. Just how important a story can it have been?
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NATURAL ANKLING
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Re: More PC........Old Story Maybe, Could Be Contentious.

Post by NATURAL ANKLING »

Hi,
PH wrote:
NATURAL ANKLING wrote:Its an old link but does that mean we only discuss what is contemporary or in the now................

So, it's been six years and no one has noticed. Just how important a story can it have been?

Important............to who.?

Its the Tea Shop :)
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Re: More PC........Old Story Maybe, Could Be Contentious.

Post by PH »

NATURAL ANKLING wrote:Hi,
PH wrote:
NATURAL ANKLING wrote:Its an old link but does that mean we only discuss what is contemporary or in the now................

So, it's been six years and no one has noticed. Just how important a story can it have been?

Important............to who.?

Its the Tea Shop :)

OK - How contentious can it have been if no one noticed?
Or maybe they did...
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meic
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Re: More PC........Old Story Maybe, Could Be Contentious.

Post by meic »

I suppose you have to check which calendar system those dates are from. Possibly they were from the Islamic calendar and that article will not actually be written for another 498 years and at that point all hell will break loose.
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Re: More PC........Old Story Maybe, Could Be Contentious.

Post by drossall »

PH wrote:So, it's been six years and no one has noticed. Just how important a story can it have been?

I noticed (although I'm not sure I'd seen the story). It did feel like a deliberate and systematic erasing of shared history.
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661-Pete
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Re: More PC........Old Story Maybe, Could Be Contentious.

Post by 661-Pete »

Question is, I suppose, how often do we use "AD" which is the more contentious one?

Certainly not for dates since around 1000 - after all when we cite a year as a simple number, like "1066" or "2017", the assumption is obvious.

For years before 1000, it might not be immediately obvious that we are referring to a year, so the "AD" or "CE" becomes necessary. I personally would prefer "CE" - so, for instance, "622 CE" or "79 CE". But - even as an atheist - I wouldn't take exception to "AD". After all the topic is usually going to be history, and shouldn't have any underlying agenda.

For years prior to 1 CE, the suffix "BC" or "BCE" becomes necessary, of course. Since they are so similar, I'd go for "BCE" since there can be no misunderstanding. But once again I'd be happy to recognise "BC" if someone insisted.

But then - I'm not everyone. Someone somewhere is going to make capital out of it. Why provoke?

OK another poser. What was the year immediately before 1CE? Logic dictates that it was 0CE, and the one before that was 1BCE. But I've read that in fact historians place 1BCE immediately before 1CE.

P.S. Just looked up Emperor Augustus's dates: born September 63BCE, died (appropriately) August 14CE, aged 75. A bit of arithmetic therefore shows that the latter assumption is the correct one.
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Re: More PC........Old Story Maybe, Could Be Contentious.

Post by matt_twam_asi »

The PC gawn maaad types take the whole non-issue way too seriously in my view. However....

If we are going to look at replacing BC/AD then why not go with the Holocene calendar? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holocene_calendar

* Simple to understand
* Universal to all of humanity
* Easier to link events throughout history on one timeline.

What's not to like? ;)

p.s. There's a fantastic podcast called The Allusionist that dealt with this subject recently, I'd recommend checking it out.
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ChrisOntLancs
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Re: More PC........Old Story Maybe, Could Be Contentious.

Post by ChrisOntLancs »

i don't think this is pc, i think it's just... well... there are less christians now. we could vote for the religion or non-religion to base this all on. we could even lie to all non-christians and say the "c" stood for "clocks". i'm an atheist so i'll be a good sport!

EDIT i've spent my life within social circles of the lower left quarter of the political spectrum, the libertarian left, the great unwashed, and in case you were all wondering, this isn't what hunt saboteurs rant about on their day off :lol:
drossall
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Re: More PC........Old Story Maybe, Could Be Contentious.

Post by drossall »

661-Pete wrote:OK another poser. What was the year immediately before 1CE? Logic dictates that it was 0CE, and the one before that was 1BCE. But I've read that in fact historians place 1BCE immediately before 1CE.

There's no year zero because, irrespective of whether you prefer CE/BCE or AD/BC, what you are counting is two eras, the one before and the one after. You can't have a year zero, because it wouldn't be in either era.
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Re: More PC........Old Story Maybe, Could Be Contentious.

Post by PaulB »

drossall wrote:
661-Pete wrote:OK another poser. What was the year immediately before 1CE? Logic dictates that it was 0CE, and the one before that was 1BCE. But I've read that in fact historians place 1BCE immediately before 1CE.

There's no year zero because, irrespective of whether you prefer CE/BCE or AD/BC, what you are counting is two eras, the one before and the one after. You can't have a year zero, because it wouldn't be in either era.


That is why the world celebrated the "New Millennium" on the wrong date! The 21st century began on 1st Jan 2001 and not 2000. Looking at the world today - what was there to celebrate? I have never seen the point of marking the turning of the year because apart from the date, nothing changes.
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Re: More PC........Old Story Maybe, Could Be Contentious.

Post by Vorpal »

meic wrote:I suppose you have to check which calendar system those dates are from. Possibly they were from the Islamic calendar and that article will not actually be written for another 498 years and at that point all hell will break loose.

In Iceland, they're more worried about what the Elves think than whether something is PC.

https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesig ... es-or-else
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Si
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Re: More PC........Old Story Maybe, Could Be Contentious.

Post by Si »

The correct term to use is BP (Before Present). In this case 'Present' = 1950.....because clever scientists can be pretty stooopid.

BCE - Before Common Era - has been used for years in archaeology, this removed the religious reference from the wording, and still uses the same base date that misrepresents a religious event that may or may not have happened.

But most British archaeologists and historians will use BC and AD as they've not got time for all the faffing about. Although British historians don't tend to bother with much BC for obvious reasons.
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