Editing Common Era (section)

== Rationales ==
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=== Support ===
The use of CE in Jewish scholarship was historically motivated by the desire to avoid the implicit "Our Lord" in the abbreviation ''AD''.{{efn| name="nostri"}} Although other aspects of dating systems are based in Christian origins, AD is a direct reference to [[Jesus is Lord|Jesus as Lord]].<ref>{{cite book|title=The American and English Encyclopedia of Law and Practice|year=1910|page=1116|quote=It has been said of the Latin words anno Domini, meaning in the year of our Lord&nbsp;...}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=World Religions At Your Fingertips|author1=Michael McDowell |author2=Nathan Robert Brown |publisher=Penguin|year=2009|isbn=978-1-101-01469-1|page=38|quote=Marked by the turn of the Common Era, C.E., originally referred to as A.D., an abbreviation of the Latin {{lang|la|Anno Domini}}, meaning 'Year of our God/Lord.' This was a shortening of {{lang|la|Anno Domini Nostri Jesu Christi}}, meaning 'Year of our God/Lord Jesus Christ.'}}</ref><ref name="Ostling">{{cite magazine |title=BC/AD Dating: In the year of whose Lord?|first=Michael|last=Ostling  |magazine=History Today |volume=59 |issue=10 |date=October 2009 |url=https://www.historytoday.com/archive/bcad-dating-year-whose-lord |access-date=10 March 2023}}</ref> Proponents of the Common Era notation assert that the use of BCE/CE shows sensitivity to those who use the same year numbering system as the one that originated with and is currently used by [[Christianity|Christians]], but who are not themselves Christian.<ref name="RelTolrnc" /> Former United Nations Secretary-General [[Kofi Annan]] has argued:<ref>{{cite news |last=Lefevere |first=Patricia |title=Annan: 'Peace is never a perfect achievement'&nbsp;– United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan |newspaper=National Catholic Reporter |date=11 December 1998 |url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1141/is_7_35/ai_53460476 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120713031248/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1141/is_7_35/ai_53460476/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=13 July 2012 |access-date=26 February 2008 }}</ref>

{{blockquote|[T]he Christian calendar no longer belongs exclusively to Christians. People of all faiths have taken to using it simply as a matter of convenience. There is so much interaction between people of different faiths and cultures – different civilizations, if you like – that some shared way of reckoning time is a necessity. And so the Christian Era has become the Common Era.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.un.org/News/ossg/sg/stories/articleFull.asp?TID=37 |title=Common values for a common era: Even as we cherish our diversity, we need to discover our shared values |last=Annan |first=Kofi A. |author-link=Kofi Annan |date=28 June 1999 |publisher=Civilization: The Magazine of the Library of Congress |access-date=2011-05-18 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110501020027/http://www.un.org/News/ossg/sg/stories/articleFull.asp?TID=37 |archive-date=2011-05-01 }}</ref>}}

Adena K. Berkowitz, in her application to argue before the [[United States Supreme Court]], opted to use BCE and CE because, "Given the multicultural society that we live in, the traditional Jewish designations{{snd}}B.C.E. and C.E.{{snd}} cast a wider net of inclusion."<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.nytimes.com/1997/08/17/magazine/bc-ad-or-bce-ce.html |url-access=subscription |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180814202630/http://www.nytimes.com/1997/08/17/magazine/bc-ad-or-bce-ce.html |archive-date=14 August 2018 |title=B.C./A.D. or B.C.E./C.E.? |last=Safire |first= William |date=17 August 1997 |work=New York Times}}</ref> In the [[World History Encyclopedia]], Joshua J. Mark wrote "Non-Christian scholars, especially, embraced [CE and BCE] because they could now communicate more easily with the Christian community. Jewish, Islamic, Hindu and Buddhist scholars could retain their [own] calendar but refer to events using the Gregorian Calendar as BCE and CE without compromising their own beliefs about the divinity of Jesus of Nazareth."<ref>{{cite Encyclopedia |entry=The Origin & History of the BCE/CE Dating System. |title=World History Encyclopedia |first=Joshua J. |last=Mark |date=27 March 2017 |entry-url=https://www.worldhistory.org/article/1041/the-origin--history-of-the-bcece-dating-system/ |access-date=8 August 2022}}</ref> In ''[[History Today]]'', Michael Ostling wrote: "BC/AD Dating: In the year of whose Lord? The continuing use of AD and BC is not only factually wrong but also offensive to many who are not Christians."<ref name="Ostling" />

=== Opposition ===
Critics note the fact that there is no difference in the [[epoch]] of the two systems—chosen to be close to the [[date of birth of Jesus]]. Since the year numbers are the same, BCE and CE dates should be equally offensive to other religions as BC and AD.<ref name="Pollick-2024">{{Cite web |title=What is the Difference Between AD, BC, BCE, and CE in Identifying Historical Dates? |url=http://www.historicalindex.org/what-is-the-difference-between-ad-bc-bce-and-ce-in-identifying-historical-dates.htm |website=Historical Index |first=Michael |last=Pollick |date= 23 May 2024 |access-date=21 August 2024}}</ref> [[Roman Catholic]] priest and writer on interfaith issues [[Raimon Panikkar]] argued that the BCE/CE usage is the less inclusive option since they are still using the Christian calendar numbers and forcing it on other nations.<ref name=Panikkar>{{Cite book |first=Raimon |last=Panikkar |author-link=Raimon Panikkar |title=Christophany: The Fullness of Man |location=Maryville, NY |publisher=Orbis Books |year=2004 |page=173|quote=To call our age 'the Common Era,' even though for the Jews, the Chinese, the Tamil, the Muslims, and many others it is not a common era, constitutes the acme of colonialism.|isbn=978-1-57075-564-4}}</ref> In 1993, the English-language expert [[Kenneth G. Wilson (author)|Kenneth G. Wilson]] speculated a [[slippery slope]] scenario in his style guide that, "if we do end by casting aside the AD/BC convention, almost certainly some will argue that we ought to cast aside as well the conventional numbering system [that is, the method of numbering years] itself, given its Christian basis."<ref name=Wilson />

Some [[Christians]] are offended by the removal of the reference to Jesus,<ref>{{cite news|url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4188/is_20061202/ai_n16891064|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071012132926/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4188/is_20061202/ai_n16891064|url-status=dead|archive-date=12 October 2007|last=Whitney|first=Susan|title=Altering history? Changes have some asking 'Before what?'|newspaper=The Deseret News|date=2 December 2006|quote='I find this attempt to restructure history offensive,' Lori Weintz wrote, in a letter to National Geographic publishers.&nbsp;... 'The forward to your book says B.C. and A.D. were removed so as to "not impose the standards of one culture on others."&nbsp;... It's 2006 this year for anyone on Earth that is participating in day-to-day world commerce and communication. Two thousand six years since what? Most people know, regardless of their belief system, and aren't offended by a historical fact.'|access-date=18 May 2011}}</ref> including the [[Southern Baptist Convention]].<ref name="SBC" />