Lets Restart the Calendar to a Year NOT Referencing the birth of Christ

JimBowie1958

Old Fogey
Sep 25, 2011
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In the attempt to secularize the calendar, many, if not most academics use the appending 'CE' for 'Common Era' but they fail to acheive their goal because the zero date is the year of the birth of Christ as most traditionally calculated.

So here is a suggestion: change the zero year to the start of the modern era. But what year is that? And why the modern era?

The modern era is characterized by a change of mental attitudes about the knowlege and authority of writers long dead from the ancient world. The idea of learning in almot all of the pre-Modern world was to bring up some treatise from a learned ancient and glean knowlege from it. The modern era thought began with mathematical and scientific approaches and said 'What can we most certainly know about a subject' then built on that.

The cosmology of the modern era was almost completely reversed from the middle ages and the ancient world. This is what began to shape the world as we know it today.

But what event would be the best reference to date the modern era from?

The fall of Constantinople? That is more of a symbolic importance, and had little real impact on the modern world.

The discovery of the Americas by Columbus? That really didnt change ancient cosmolgy to modern, though it did establish the economic domination of the Western European nations till the end of the Twentieth century, but that affect is now almost completely passed as evidence of China India and the rise of the USA have demonstrated, all nonEuropean nations.

The heliocentric view of the universe? Another mistake in concept of the universe since there really is not ca enter of the universe, except perhaps where the Big Bang took place. This was more derivative than causal and was largely ignored by most astronomers till Gallileo, at least that is my impression.

The development of astronimical navigation? Well, the impact of that was limited to commerce mostly and is again more derivative of other major changes rather than being the root change to modern cosmology itself.

I think the production of the first printing press in 1468 is the best event to deliniate the beginning of the Modern Cosmology. This development led to an explosion of learning as books became far more affordable and easier to print. Books became the posession of anyone who wanted to read them enough to save up some paltry sum and buy them.

The development of the printing press allowed the mass production of astronomical tables that allowed for astronomical navigation. Ubiqitous tomes of knowlege made universal education possible, allowed for easier and more acurate record keeping, and unleashed the modern mind to think of new worlds, new ideas and new ways of life. The printing press gave us an explosion of learning, creativity and accuracy far surpassing the pre-modern times.

So, without further explanation, I present to you all the year 544 M.E., Modern Era.
 
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25% of the world's population is Islamic and doesn't use the western Georgian calendar and the BC and AD designations based on the birth of Christ.

Muslims use the Hijra calendar based on Muhammad's emigration from Mecca to Medina (622 AD) which would be year 1 AH (After Hijra)

It is a lunar based calendar; and used for all Islamic festivals, holidays, and historic events.

Currently we are in the year 1434 AH
 
25% of the world's population is Islamic and doesn't use the western Georgian calendar and the BC and AD designations based on the birth of Christ.

Muslims use the Hijra calendar based on Muhammad's emigration from Mecca to Medina (622 AD) which would be year 1 AH (After Hijra)

It is a lunar based calendar; and used for all Islamic festivals, holidays, and historic events.

Currently we are in the year 1434 AH

Yes, I am aware of this, but I am refering to the effort to secularize the callendar, and the dates relating to Mohameds emigration is still a religious event that evades the intent of a secularized calendar.

Thanks for the rational response, btw.
 
A fine idea insofar as its premise to make the start date meaningful.

I see a couple of hindrances though. One if you're basing a start date on science and invention, you're going to run afoul of the creationists who will insist that printing came from a lightning bolt, thus:

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I48hr8HhDv0]History of the World Part 1 (Mel Brooks) - Old Testament - Moses - Ten Commandments - YouTube[/ame]

And second, you're going to have to change dates on all the records of everything.

Your basis makes sense though. I'll vote for your idea if you vote for mine: Metric Time. Ten hours in a day, ten days in a week, ten decaweeks in a year... haven't worked it all out yet.
 
How brave putting this in the clean zone.

The calendar I have works fine. It starts in January and ends in December.
 
A fine idea insofar as its premise to make the start date meaningful.

I see a couple of hindrances though. One if you're basing a start date on science and invention, you're going to run afoul of the creationists who will insist that printing came from a lightning bolt, thus:

History of the World Part 1 (Mel Brooks) - Old Testament - Moses - Ten Commandments - YouTube

And second, you're going to have to change dates on all the records of everything.

Your basis makes sense though. I'll vote for your idea if you vote for mine: Metric Time. Ten hours in a day, ten days in a week, ten decaweeks in a year... haven't worked it all out yet.

I like that. 36 ten day 'weeks' with a mid summer half week to even it out. Cool.
 
Lol, you are right. For some reason the reference book I used was giving 1468 as the date for the first printing press. So 1440 it is, and a nice round number too.
 
I don't see a need. It works fine, a waste of time and energy to make a few people happy.
 
I don't see a need. It works fine, a waste of time and energy to make a few people happy.

So then why do so many use CE instead of AD?

These symbolic things matter, and to continue to reference the birth of JEsus as the starting point of our time count implies that Christs birth was a watershed in history, something the vast majority of secular Americans cannot accept.

We are going to be a secular society, right? So lets start with the basics and get it right.
 
I don't see a need. It works fine, a waste of time and energy to make a few people happy.

So then why do so many use CE instead of AD?

These symbolic things matter, and to continue to reference the birth of JEsus as the starting point of our time count implies that Christs birth was a watershed in history, something the vast majority of secular Americans cannot accept.

We are going to be a secular society, right? So lets start with the basics and get it right.

I don't use either, of all the important things in life, this doesn't rank in the top 1000, I can't believe it would bother anyone. To sensitive over nothing.
 
Actually the calendar that we are using starts approximately two years before the birth of Jesus of Nazarus according to the best estimates. That is precisely why scholars use the CE and BCE rather than AD and BC. It already is a secular calendar as most of the religious holidays (holy days) are based on a lunar calendar that is archaic to say the least. Lunar calendars are completely inaccurate because there are more than 12 and less than 13 lunar cycles in a year (one trip around the sun). Even the Sumerians knew this in 3000 BCE.
 
Actually the calendar that we are using starts approximately two years before the birth of Jesus of Nazarus according to the best estimates. That is precisely why scholars use the CE and BCE rather than AD and BC. It already is a secular calendar as most of the religious holidays (holy days) are based on a lunar calendar that is archaic to say the least. Lunar calendars are completely inaccurate because there are more than 12 and less than 13 lunar cycles in a year (one trip around the sun). Even the Sumerians knew this in 3000 BCE.

Gregorian calendar - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Gregorian calendar, also called the Western calendar and the Christian calendar, is internationally the most widely accepted civil calendar.[1][2][3] It was introduced by Pope Gregory XIII, after whom the calendar was named, by a decree signed on 24 February 1582; the decree, a papal bull, is known by its opening words, Inter gravissimas.[4] The Gregorian calendar was adopted initially by the Catholic countries of Europe, with other countries adopting it over the following centuries.

The motivation for the Gregorian reform was that the Julian calendar assumes that the time between vernal equinoxes is 365.25 days, when in fact it is presently almost 11 minutes shorter. The discrepancy results in a drift of about three days every 400 years. At the time of Gregory's reform there had already been a drift of 10 days since Roman times, resulting in the spring equinox falling on 11 March instead of the ecclesiastically fixed date of 21 March, and moving steadily earlier in the Julian calendar. Because the spring equinox was tied to the celebration of Easter, the Roman Catholic Church considered this steady movement in the date of the equinox undesirable.

The Gregorian calendar is a Christian calendar built for Christian purposes by a POPE.
 
I don't see a need. It works fine, a waste of time and energy to make a few people happy.

So then why do so many use CE instead of AD?

These symbolic things matter, and to continue to reference the birth of JEsus as the starting point of our time count implies that Christs birth was a watershed in history, something the vast majority of secular Americans cannot accept.

We are going to be a secular society, right? So lets start with the basics and get it right.

I don't use either, of all the important things in life, this doesn't rank in the top 1000, I can't believe it would bother anyone. To sensitive over nothing.

In your opinion.
 
Some Leftytoon academics is not many. In fact most people don't care.

Got a link?

Got a link that shows that a lot of people care, I'm thinking 1% at the most.

I never said that most peole want this or any other percentage. Did you bother to even read what I posted? You dont seem to be familiar with what I wrote.

I don't see it as important, just like someone saying Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays, it is trivial.

In your opinion.
 

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