On 5/16/05, Pete/Pcb21 pete_pcb21_wpmail@pcbartlett.com wrote:
Ultra-short summary of previous debates:
Pro-CE) AD = "Year of Our Lord" thus is POV. Use CE. Pro-AD) No AD is more widely used and WP is not a vehicle for advocacy for change, so stick to AD. Pro-CE) But that is ignorance. We should be correct and neutral, not sheep-followers of the majority. Pro-AD) I am not Christian nor ignorant, but still use AD as the "standard". Adovacy is a bigger POV problem than origins of common terms being POV.
The horse has long bolted. CE has been common usage for decades in an expanding circle of groups, most notably those of science or academia.
The Christians trying to contain the infection are as ultimately risible as the French trying to keep their language pure by opposing terms such as "le weekend". Christian belief is something that comes from the heart, not from strict adherence to the display of symbols.
The "standardists" may have a better moral case, but I see them as like those who grew up with the Imperial system of measurement and staunchly resist the metric system because they aren't used to the terms. Oddly enough, within the British Commonwealth these same people didn't have any problem in grasping decimal currency after conversion from pounds, shillings and pence. If they *really* have a problem with BCE rather than BC, then the standardists are picking the smallest of nits.
CE/BCE is already a standard in many disciplines. Make it so in WP.