Notating History: The Importance of Secular Labels

First of all, it is wrong in principle to use religion when it comes to factual matters. These abbreviations are used to convey information, and shouldn't be tinged by any religious beliefs. Religions are institutions built upon faith, not reason. As faith is the belief in something without proof, religious beliefs do not belong in an academic situation, which is generally when the markers of BC/AD or BCE/CE are being used. Different religions are free to have their own systems of dating things, but it is inappropriate to allow religion to have an impact upon science, just as it would be ridiculous to allow scientific findings to dictate what could be believed by different religions.

This point is further made when different versions of history are taken into account. History, as a science, relies on evidence and facts as a basis for its information. The most prevalent theories in terms of the age of our planet and the universe as a whole place the Earth's age at about 4.5 billion years. However, religions often have different opinions on this matter. Many fundamental Christians believe the Earth to be only 6,000 years old. While this is fine as a religious belief, it does not reflect current scientific evidence.

In addition to being wrong in principle to combine science and religion in this way, it is unfair to single out one religion in particular. Although the most popular religion in America is Christianity, it places that religion upon a pedestal if Christian notation for dates is commonly utilized academically and educationally. For example, Judaism also has its own way of notating dates. According to the Jewish calendar, we are currently (as of October 25, 2008) in the year 5769. If we began to use the Jewish system of date notation, it would seem unfair and preferential to those of other faiths, just as using the Christian legends of BC/AD seems to others.

Some may argue that the notation BC/AD is not necessarily Christian; however, this argument is disingenuous. "BC" stands for "Before Christ," and "AD" stands for the Latin phrase "Anno Domini," which means "the year of our lord." Some may be unaware of the Christian origin of these abbreviations, but that does not make them any less religious or Christian.

As our world becomes more and more interconnected, it is important to be aware of differences in culture and religion across the globe. It is unfair and upsetting to those of other faiths to be using Christian abbreviations in documents which purport to be secular. Using the non-religious, scientific delineations of BCE and CE avoids the dual problems of mixing facts with faith and of unfairly giving preference to one particular faith to the exclusion of others.