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 reply to number 3 on Jesus, even as a Christian myself and also a scient
ist and business professor, many of us believe that although Jesus was th
e son of God, in our belief, that he was a human like the rest of us. So 
he is not being demoted; many of us are not trinitarian and believe he wa
s as human as you and I
	


> De: Eugene Dillenburg <dillenburge@EART
HLINK.NET>
> A: [log in to unmask]
> Objet: Re: Science, r
eligion, BC, and AD
> Date: Tue, 19 Apr 2005 09:28:23 -0400

> <pre>IS
EN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology Centers

> Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related instit
utions.
> **************************************************************
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> 
> What a bad idea!  It not only doesn't change anyth
ing, it actually makes
> maters worse for all concerned.
> 
> 1)  The 
objection to BC / AD is that it makes the birth of Jesus the focal
> poi
nt of history.  (One could make a compelling argument that, at least in

> the case of our Western civilization, that is indeed the case.)  The ne
w
> dating system does not change this -- Jesus' birth is still the zero
 point.
> 
> 2)  By changing to an unusual, unfamiliar dating system, y
ou are in fact
> drawing attention to the very thing you are trying to d
ownplay.
> 
> 3)  The change is offensive to Christians -- who are stil
l the majority of
> visitors in almost all of our institutions -- by "de
moting" Jesus and
> replacing Him with a human creation.
> 
> 4)  The 
change is offensive to non-Christians: calling a Christ-centered
> datin
g system "common" implies that all other belief systems are "uncommon"
>
 -- unusual, out of the ordinary, minor.
> 
> 5)  BC / AD is pretty muc
h a non-issue to begin with.  It came up years ago
> at a museum I worke
d for, and I asked a co-worker (Orthodox Jewish) for his
> opinion.  He 
thought I was patronizing him.  Look, he explained, every month
> when I
 write my mortgage check, I use a year based on Christianity, a month
> 
based on Roman mythology, a day based on Nordic mythology, and a number t
hat
> probably had some mystical significance to the Babylonians.  Etymo
logy is
> not evangelism; my faith is strong enough to withstand other p
eople having
> their own.
> 
> Eugene Dillenburg
> Exhibit Developer

> Science Museum of Minnesota
> [log in to unmask]
> 
> 
> On Mon, 
18 Apr 2005 19:14:38 -0400, David Smith
> <[log in to unmask]> 
wrote:
> 
> >ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Tec
hnology Centers
> >Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums 
and related institutions.
> >*******************************************
**********************************
> >
> >While we are all busy discuss
ing science and religion, may I offer a
> >request for all those of you 
who use dates in the historical era on your
> >center signage to use the
 CE, BCE (Common Era, Before the Common Era)
> >nomenclature instead of 
AD and BC.  Both of the latter refer explicity
> >to Christ, and AD refe
rs explicitly to Christ's divinity, making CE/BCE
> >a more inclusive us
age.  The years are counted identically, this is 2005
> >CE, so there's 
no issue of conversion, just a change in initials.  For
> >more see the 
wikipedia entry: <a href=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_Era.>http://
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_Era.</a>>
> >
> >David L Smith
> >Directo
r of Professional Development
> >Da Vinci DiscoveryCenter of Science and
 Technology
> ><a href=http://www.discovery-center.org>http://www.discov
ery-center.org</a>>
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> </pre>

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