Re: anti Christian bias?

On Wed, 11 Apr 2001, Nick T wrote:

> Hi all:
>
> On page 29 of the PostgreSQL User's Guide, distributed with version 7.0.3,
> in table 3-8 Postgres Date Input, the last item in the Example column is
> January 8, 99 BC. The corresponding Description item reads "Year 99 before
> the Common Era". The author or the editor of this manual is obviously
> expressing his anti Christian bias in attempting to redefine BC to mean
> "Common Era". Throughout history BC, when associated with a date, has
> always stood for "Before Christ", and it always will. I challenge the
> author/editor to tell us exactly what is the significant event in history
> that marks the boundary of what he chooses to call "Common Era".
>
> Nick

To back this up a bit, I did a search on Google to see what exactly BC is
supposed to mean, and found that "BCE" == "Before Common Era", and "BC" ==
"Before Christ" ... but how do you distinguish? From reading below, my
preference would be to go with 'BCE' and 'CE' as designations, as they are
non-demoninational ...

I just found:

http://www.urbanlegends.com/language/year_abbreviations.html

which has:

====================================================================
>>What is 1000 _CE_?
>
> Common Era. It's basically a PC way of saying "A.D." without offending
> Jews, Muslims, Hindus and other touchy religious groups. Hence you get
> the rather monstrous abbreviations "C.E." and "B.C.E" (Before the
> Common Era)...

Sorry to add a real reference to an AFU thead - here is the discussion of
usage in the Chicago Manual of Style:

8.17 Eras

Figures are used for year numbers followed or preceded by era
designations, and words are used for centuries. The abbreviations for eras
are conventionally set in small caps. Note that the abbreviations
beginning with _A_ (for _anno_, "the year") properly precede the year
number, whereas others follow it. Among the most frequently used era
designations are A.D. (_anno Domini_, "in the year of the Lord"); A.H.
(_anno Hegirae_, "in the year of [Muhammad's] Hegira," or _anno Hebraico_,
"in the Hebrew year"); A.U.C. (_anno urbis conditae_, "in the year of the
building of the city" [i.e., Rome, in 753 B.C.]); B.C. ("before Christ");
C.E. and B.C.E. ("of the common era" and "before the common era" -
equivalent to A.D and B.C.); and B.P. ("before the present"). ...
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