About “G-d”, all I know is that when I went to Hebrew school as a kid hwy told us very specifically to writ it that way. I think it was a combination of the lord’s name in vain, not presuming to write the lord’s name down, etc. It’s a habit I’ve gotten into and (oddly enough) find it heard to break even though I’m not a very strong believer in my religion.
But, on the BCE/CE vs. BC/AD topic, I need to argue. Yes, he was a very influential person but the very names “Before Christ” and “Anno Domini” have RELIGIOUS connontations. Christ, of course, meaning the “Anointed one” and therefore by some train of logic “the King” (I thikn I read this in the SD somewhere, search the archive yourself) and “Anno Domini” meaning “In the year of our Lord”.
Well, he’s not MY lord. If you’re saying that even not as a religious thing, we should use those names, why can’t we just use the practical, NON-religious version? I’m sure it would be much more easily accepted in countries that aren’t just Christian.
Yeah, but I think both have lost their religious connotation. Most people don’t even know what AD stands for, and most of the ones who do don’t know what “Anno Domine” means, and most of the ones who do don’t care. I’m not religious, and it doesn’t bug me. It’s a custom. When you use it, people know what you mean.
Related anecdote: I was presenting a paper once in a class and I had mentioned some dates in “BC” and “AD” format. Some girl in the front row interrupts very rudely and says, “You know, you can use BCE and CE instead of BC and AD.” I was startled for a moment, and I repliedwith, “Yes, you can.” I then continued to read my paper and my professor had an enourmous grin on his face the whole time.
But I know, and I care. I don’t care about most people.
I don’t bother with the hyphen in god. See cmkeller’s post where he states that he would rather be better safe than sorry. I take a more lenient view, for the reasons he mentions. When speaking, I usually just say “god”, or when I’m in a Jewishy situation, I’ll say “HaShem”, which means “the name” in Hebrew. “Adonai” is used in liturgy, not everyday conversation. For instance, the name is written into the liturgy, but we read it as “Adonai.” It’s kind of confusing - what is written (according to my transliteration; of course, it’s really written in Hebrew) is “baruch atah yvyh,” but what we say is “baruch atah adonai.”
Switching from AD to CE wouldn’t have much of an effect on other countries. Consider that there are:Islamic calendars, Hebrew Calendars, Chinese calendars etc. Changing from 2000 AD to 200 CE doesn’t really affect a difference of a couple thousand years between calendars.
As for the hyphen, Jewish custom states that sacred texts must be disposed of through special ceremony. Many Jews consider any name for God in any language sacred text. The hyphen bypasses that problem.
Personally, I have a Jewish newspaper a friend gave me some months ago. Since it contains several prayers I can not throw it away. I keep meaning to give to a Rabbi for proper disposal and keep forgetting
But how much do those other calendars actually get used? In Israel, people use the BCE/CE one, just like in the US. The Hebrew calendar is used only in religious circumstances. Although the front page of the Jerusalem Post gives the date in the Common calendar, then the Hebrew calendar, then the Muslim calendar. Still, I doubt many Jews could tell you what month it is in the Hebrew calendar at any given time, except when there’s a holiday.