[WikiEN-l] Shouldn't we change BC->BCE?

Sun Nov 24 00:40:56 UTC 2002

Alexander Stephen Bradbury wrote:

>Shouldn't the English Wikipedia chaqnge the BC dates, to BCE. As I'm sure
>you all know, BC==Before Christ and BCE=Before Common Era. Now, surely BCE
>is a better term, as it doesn't force anyone to conform to this christian
>naming convention. Maybe you've already considered tihs, are there any
>reasons not to make the change?
>
>ASB [[User:Smelialichu]]
>
I prefer BC because it's shorter than BCE.  

As much as I know the origins of "BC" and its relationship to the life 
of Jesus, my atheistic sensitivities are not offended by its use.  "BCE" 
has always struck me as affectatiously hyper-correct.

Nevertheless, if the author of an article wants to use "BCE" or "CE" in 
his own article, I would be inclined to treat it as an option in the 
same way that we deal with American/British spellings.  Where a person 
does use "AD", however, I would treat it as wrong to put it after the 
year number.

The system could have been designed to use "AC" for both before and 
after ... Ante-Christ and Anti-Christ :-)

Eclecticology