Poor, Edmund W wrote:
Are we STILL discussing this?
If you THINK that use of AD/BC implies "endorsement of the truth of
Christianity", then you're in a fantasy world. It's just a habit. Many
retail stores gear up for the Christmas holidays and even derive a
substantial fraction of their income from the Xmas season. Does this
mean they ENDORSE Christianity?
Is there any support in Jewish tradition for the idea of a Chanukah
bush? One fine tradition of ancient times was to adopt the timetable of
local pagan festivals and gradualy subvert its purpose so that the
festivals celebrated the traditions of the new masters. To be effective
subverters do not announce their intention. At this rate we can expect
that in due time the name "Christmas" will be changed to "Marketing
Day".
Even the ANTI-RELIGIOUS Soviet Union continued to use
the same numbering
system for years as the (Christian) West. Nobody EVER thought that this
usage implied any endorsement (or even TOLERANCE) of religion on their
part.
They did not just continue it; they adopted it. Before the revolution
Russia was still using the Orthodox Julian calendar. The Soviet
government brought the country into line with everybody else on this point.
This whole thing smacks of an "anti-religious
agenda", rather than any
sincere effort towards neutrality.
Not really. Those belonging to non-christian religious traditions are
the ones more likely to find offence. The anti-religious are more
likely to be content with the present system. That makes for a strange
alliance of convenience between atheists and fundamentalist Christians.