cmotherofpirl Posted December 13, 2003 Share Posted December 13, 2003 History has to be rewritten as school bans BC and AD By David Sapsted (Filed: 13/12/2002) A secondary school has banned pupils from using the terms BC and AD when writing dates because they are deemed unsuitable in a multi-faith society. Parents of pupils at the Dorothy Stringer School in Brighton were bewildered when they found their children writing BCE (Before Common Era) about the construction of Stonehenge. The state school, which has only a few children from ethnic minorities, admitted yesterday that it had replaced Before Christ and Anno Domini, which have been in use since the 16th century, with BCE and Common Era. Philip and Anne Long, whose 11-year-old son Alex is in his first year at the 1,600-pupil school, said they were "astonished" by the change. Mr Long said: "Why change a term that is universally used and accepted to describe a particular period? It doesn't seem to make any sense." Church officials are also upset by the change. David Guest, communications officer for the Diocese of Chichester, said: "BC and AD have been used for centuries and have not upset people. They do have Christian significance but they have historical significance as well. We would be disappointed if these new terms became the norm." John Thorne, the school's deputy headmaster, defended the new terms. He said they had been around for years. "They are approved international terms for using dates and they are also in the official GCSE glossary of terms for religious education. "It is not the job of the school to lead a pupil towards a particular faith: we teach about religion, not just one religion." Related reports education.telegraph External links Department for Education and Skills Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kilroy the Ninja Posted December 13, 2003 Share Posted December 13, 2003 stop it or I will explode and it's just too lovely a saturday........ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Petrus Posted December 13, 2003 Share Posted December 13, 2003 Even if they change the wording, Jesus was still born around 1 CE (really about 5 BCE, but there is no difference). If they really want to get away from religion, the school should use count years after the Big Bang. This year would be about 12500000000 ABB. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paladin D Posted December 13, 2003 Share Posted December 13, 2003 This is absurd... BC and AD is used everywhere, I don't get it... Should we rename all the planets in our solar system, because they are names of mytholagical gods? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LTNgurl Posted December 13, 2003 Share Posted December 13, 2003 :sadder: this is ubsurd Good point Paladin D ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MC Just Posted December 13, 2003 Share Posted December 13, 2003 Typical. Just Typical. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foundsheep Posted December 13, 2003 Share Posted December 13, 2003 This is ridiculous, the world is beginning to deny christ everywhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EcceNovaFacioOmni Posted December 13, 2003 Share Posted December 13, 2003 (edited) I agree this is rediculous but it doesn't really matter. CE and BCE mean the same thing as AD and BC, it's just a different name. There are worse things to worry about. BTW: The use of CE still recognizes that our modern calender is based off the year of the birth of Christ and they can never change that. Edited December 13, 2003 by thedude Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ash Wednesday Posted December 13, 2003 Share Posted December 13, 2003 I've seen the "BCE" done for a while... next thing you know, these jokers are going to want to reset the whole calendar and millennium system that we go by. Whiners. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don John of Austria Posted December 14, 2003 Share Posted December 14, 2003 I agree this is rediculous but it doesn't really matter. CE and BCE mean the same thing as AD and BC, it's just a different name. There are worse things to worry about No they are not the same thing, the cover the same period of time, but common Era DOES NOT mean the same thing as In the Year of our Lord. Before the Common era does not mean the same thing as Before (the ) Christ. If I were not a Christian I would be much more offended by CE than AD. AD is overtly religious but CE, say this Calander is common and it is not, If I was a muslim I would say the year was 1381 ( Ithink thats write) if Hindu a differant year,a chinese buddhist still a differant one etc. THIS IS OFFENSIVE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellenita Posted December 14, 2003 Share Posted December 14, 2003 Ah well, you see, we have to teach religion in the UK, it's part of our National Curriculum in state schools, although parents are allowed to request their children do not attend these classes and some do exercise this right (mostly people from very strict protestant denominations in my experience.) As a consequence, facts are taught about all the main religions but the matter of faith is diluted completely since it has to address 'all things for all people'. I could not imagine any child would have anything other than a technical understanding of Christianity through the religion which is taught in state schools. Of course we also have Catholic schools - unsurprisingly these are incredibly popular with parents (including non catholics!) and always oversubscribed. And I'm not surprised that the Telegraph (a politically conservative newspaper) has chosen to highlight this about a school under the authority of Brighton council (a politically left wing, liberal council) as we start the countdown towards elections. Poor old Brighton council - it's only doing what the DfES says! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foundsheep Posted December 14, 2003 Share Posted December 14, 2003 No they are not the same thing, the cover the same period of time, but common Era DOES NOT mean the same thing as In the Year of our Lord. Before the Common era does not mean the same thing as Before (the ) Christ. If I were not a Christian I would be much more offended by CE than AD. AD is overtly religious but CE, say this Calander is common and it is not, If I was a muslim I would say the year was 1381 ( Ithink thats write) if Hindu a differant year,a chinese buddhist still a differant one etc. THIS IS OFFENSIVE Don jon you should end yours with :donjohn: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted December 14, 2003 Share Posted December 14, 2003 Ya know, I'm tired of being "sensitive" and being told to be careful not to offend non-Christians! My attitude toward this is, if I make them mad, they'll get over it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EcceNovaFacioOmni Posted December 14, 2003 Share Posted December 14, 2003 You're right they do not mean the same thing. I was refering to the fact that they both represent the same time period. BCE and CE still refer to Christ and the Christian calender so the renaming is pointless. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muschi Posted December 15, 2003 Share Posted December 15, 2003 The person who mentioned changing the names of the planets in our solar system since they are all named after pagan gods......whoa! To the cry-baby atheists, you don't see us Christians trying to lobby for changes in the name of our planets and for that matter...the names of the days of the week which ALSO are named after pagan "gods". No one is having a crying fit over this! So, what gives? - Muschi :sadder: :cyclops: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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