Christ Era
One of the parishes we sometimes go to has a school next it that was built in 2000. When the school was completed under the name of the school in big letters was 2000 C.E. C.E. stands for Common Era which is a secular way not to have to refer to Christ. Though I always thought it was rather silly since it starts as what was reckoned as the birth of Christ. I guess they couldn't go whole hog like the French Revolution that increased the number of the days of the week and changed the names in the calendar. I mean if you were to really choose a date for the common era it would certainly start sooner than zero A.D.
Regardless every time I would see C.E. used on this Catholic school it always puts me in a mood for a rant which is not a good thing on the way to Mass. Today I was in for a pleasant surprise. The C.E. had been replaced by A.D. (Anno Domini - Year of the Lord). I guess I was not the only person annoyed by this.
Now many people mistake A.D. for meaning After Death as I use to think. I was wondering if maybe we should apply the same style mistake to the secular B.C.E and C.E. Anybody that has to work in a secular environment having to use this can just refer to them as Before Christ Era and Christ Era. We should do it often enough that it sticks and the secular form is forgotten. After all the secular world has stolen a bunch of stuff from us so why not reverse this?
Known as 
My son in high school always says, "CE? Oh, does that mean Christian Era? And BCE means Before Christian Era?" Since it does mean exactly that, it's hard for people to say something....
I'm with Jane M. Christ isn't really an adjective, but "Christian Era" works well, IMHO.
I'm with Jane and Mike. "Christian Era" works for me.
The first time I encountered this was, I kid you not, in the seminary. I always annoys me, but especially when it comes from so-called believers.
I always assumed it meant Before Christian Era and Christian Era. I was in college before I realized it didn't.
I always assumed it meant Before Christian Era and Christian Era. I was in college before I realized it didn't.
!
Have any of you read the wikipedia entry on the term Common Era?
I think what annoys me most about the whole CE thing is that it's specifically anti-Christian, rather than secular in a broad sense. After all, I don't see a move on to remove Janus, Mars, and Juno from the calendar, or Tiw, Wotan, Thor, Freyja, or Saturn from the week.
B.C. versus B.C.E. always strikes me as sensible as "E-gore" versus "Eye-gore" (see "Young Frankenstein"). Unless the the folks pushing B.C.E. and C.E. start counting from another point, it's just empty fashion. As a wise man I know would put it: "Him all same fellow."
The first year is _not_ zero A.D., but 1 A.D. -- the first year of our Lord. The years don't follow Christ's birth-days, but rather the years of his life. Hence, if he died at age 33 on January 1st (for the sake of argument), he would die on January 1st, A.D. 34, not A.D. 33.
Another point: When reckoning years using "A.D.," the "A.D." must always _precede_ the year, whereas "B.C." must _follow_ the year. Hence the high school ought to have A.D. 2000, not 2000 A.D.
It sounds like his decision. Let him invest in Disney or Hershey's or the Green Bay Packers. Whatever he wants, and he'll probably learn more if he invests in a well-known company rather than a hedge fund.
Here's something I do to praise God in the world. On every Federal Reserve Note I get, I draw a Cross above the dead president's head.
Sort of like Catholic graffiti. I think they found stuff like that in the catacombs in Rome.
Now, I'm going to put AD in front of the year, too.
Why not go up a notch and make C.E. mean 'Catholic Era'? ;D