"Judge a man by his questions rather than by his answers." - VoltairE

BCE: Is it really time to erase Christianity from history?

Posted by Anne Witton on Sunday, October 29, 2017 Under: Reflections


It seems there’s more and more pressure to erase Christianity from history to avoid offending those of other faiths or of a secular worldview. 

A recent investigation by the Mail on Sunday found that more schools using BCE and CE instead of BC and AD to avoid offending those of non-Christian faiths. 

This strikes me as ridiculous for three reasons:

(1) The terms BC and AD are hardly used in a proselytising way. They’re just a convention in the Gregorian calendar and I’m sure that lots of people don’t even know what they stand for.

(2) Even if the terms were overtly Christian, most people aren’t offended by being confronted by something that has a faint whiff of a worldview that’s different from theirs. In fact, it’s important for all of us to be exposed to things we find challenging or don’t necessarily agree with in order to understand other and evoke our own opinions about the world.

And yet it seems that some people would prefer that the Christian heritage of our country be obliterated to avoid people getting upset.

(3) Even if we concede that being exposed to anything faintly Christian is damaging (which I don’t), then where does this logically lead? There’s an awful lot of our culture that would have to go:

  • Every church building in the country, from St. Paul’s Cathedral and Westminster Abbey to thousands of beautiful rural churches on the village green.
  • Statues and cenotaphs that have Christian imagery or Bible verses.
  • The 17359 Christian charities in the UK including Christian Aid, Tearfund, Traidcraft, Christians Against Poverty, Trussell Trust Foodbanks and City missions. These involve thousands of staff and volunteers who dedicate their time to providing soup kitchens, visiting prisoners, working with the homeless, supporting refugees, running educational programmes, promoting animal welfare, upholding environmental issues and much more.
  • Thousands of kids’ clubs, parent and toddler groups, adult literacy classes and community groups across the country.
  • Much beloved classic literature like the C. S. Lewis’ Narnia series and John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress.
  • Most classical music! No more Handel’s Messiah, Bach’s choral music or Fauré’s exquisite Requiem.
  • Christmas, Easter and harvest festivals.
  • Many every day sayings that originate in the Bible, such as ‘The blind leading the blind’, ‘By the skin of your teeth’, ‘Fly in the ointment’ and ‘Go the extra mile’.
And this is being generous. There is pretty much no part of our rich cultural history that has no Christian influence. Much of our legal system is founded upon Christian morality and it was St. Augustine who pioneered the first schools in the sixth century. (Christians of course have been influential in educational reforms right up to the present day).

Maybe those keen to blot out the Latin phrase ‘Anno Domini’ in case it offends anyone who’s not a Jesus-follower need to go a lot further and blot out most of our history and large chunks of contemporary culture.

I honestly do wonder where this extreme politically correct allergy to anything that could cause offence will end. My prayer is that people of all different backgrounds, cultures and world views will love each other, listen to each other and learn from each other so that we can all be enriched.

In : Reflections 


Tags: "political correctness" secularism education history 

Tags

"loving god' commandment relationship 40th activity acts addiction adoption adultery advent aesop agapé android animation anxiety apologetics app apps argument aroma atheism audio bear ben folds bible bible characters bible narrative bible study bible trading cards big picture birthday blog body of christ book book review books busyness cat celebration celibacy celtic change charity chart child children christ christendom christmas chronicles church church history climate change coastguard colouring comedy commentary communications communion community compassion conference consumerism contemplation context conversation coronavirus covenant covid-19 creation creation care creativity cross crucifixtion cryptic culture cwtch daily prayer data day of the lord death debate devotional diagram dictionary digital disagreement disciples discipleship discipline discussion documentary easter ecclesiastes economics education effort elder brother emotion encouragement enemies environment environmentalism ethics evangelism event evidence ezekiel fable facebook fact check fair trade faith faitheism fake news father fear feast feeling fellowship feminism fiction film fireseeds flesh flourishing food foodbank forgiveness free freedom freshers fun fundraiser funny galatians game gay gay wedding genealogies generosity gifts giving god god's presence good good news gospel gospreflection grace gratitude great commission green growth guitar hagar healing health heart heaven hebrews history hoarding holy biscuit holy spirit home homosexuality honesty hope hopelessness hospitality house hub humanism humour hymn identity in individualism infographic infographics inheritance insurance internet interview interviews intimacy ios jesus joel joke jonah joseph joy justice kindness kingdom kingdom of god lament law leaflet lectio divina legacy lennox lesbian levite lgbtq liberty library literal literature liturgy living out lockdown lord’s love lust magazine map mark mark's materialism matthew maturity meal meditation meditations memory mental health ministry mission missionaries moody moral morality move murray music names of god nation new creation new year newcomers news non-fiction north east obsession old testament online outreach pain palm sunday parable passover patience peace pentecost persecution perseverance perspective philosophy photo photography piano picture this thought podcast poem poetry political correctness pool night possessions post-christendom poverty power praise prayer prayer requests prayer walk preaching presentation presents priest princess anne priorities prodigal son productivity project prophecy protection provision psalm publicity puzzle questions quiz quotes reading rebellion reconciliation redemption reference reflection relationship relationships relativism religion remembrance repentance rescue resource resources rest restoration resurrection retreat review reviews riches right and wrong royalty rules rush sabbath sacrifice same-sex attraction sarah scholarship science screens scripture scripture engagement secularism seed self esteem selfishness sermon sermon on the mount sex sexuality shalom sharing faith shopping showcase significance silence simplicity sin slavery smell social social action social media society software solitude song songs sonship soularium sources speaking spiritual gifts spirituality sproul spurgeon stations of the cross stats stewardship stone story stott student student life students study suffering supper support support discovery talk tech technology temple tft thank you thanksgiving theology time toby tools top trumps trading cards training transformation translation treasure treasure hunt trivia true freedom trust truth unity update utilities value video vine visual waiting waiting for god walk war wealth website websites wesley witnessing women words world worldview worry worship worth writing wrong wycliffe youtube ywam

Living Out is registered UK Charity no. 1165572 | The Baptist Union is Charity no. 249635