The author of this article apparently doesn't know that CE and BCE have
been standard usage in historical and archeological circles for over a century.
http://www.acs.ucalgary.ca/~elsegal/Shokel/H021228_BC-BCR.html
What's more, it has been routine usage in Jewish articles and history
books for decades, including those by the Orthodox Jews who voted for Bush and support his domestic and foreign policy, and have no more use for political correctness than Mr. Duke.
This usage may be a revelation to Mr. Duke, but let him rest assured it
is not some new PC academic fashion designed to appease Islamists. Maybe he should talk to some historians before he gets so upset.
Judith Weiss
http://www.hfienberg.com/kesher/
Selwyn Duke's Response
Judith Weiss takes issue with my contention that the adoption of "CE" and "BCE" is one of the fruits of political-correctness. She states that the usage of said terms in historical and archeological circles dates back over a century, and this is true. The first known example of their usage dates back to 1881. However, my piece dealt not with the genesis of the terms but, rather, with the forces that have been the impetus behind their current popularity and the folly of our adoption of them.
Ms. Weiss' implication -- aside from being that I wrote the article from a perspective of ignorance -- is that it's preposterous to claim that the adoption of these terms is an example of political-correctness, and that they should be lent credibility, because they originated "so long" ago. This is a common misconception.
Communism originated even longer ago [the Communist Manifesto was written in 1848]. In fact, its authors, Marx and Engels, probably borrowed their ideas from one of their elders, Robert Owen, a Welsh-born social-reformer. The latter created a communist style community in New Harmony, Indiana, which failed in 1827. Now, should this misbegotten ideology have been lent credibility in, let's say, 1917 because it had been around for "so long"? Well, no doubt it was lent credibility, as it carried the day in Russia during the October Revolution, and the Russian people reaped the whirlwind.
The point is that evil and destructive ideologies, philosophies and ideas have always plagued man. And, while the seeds of political-correctness only germinated and broke the surface in the 1960s, the sowing of its seeds greatly predated its ascendancy. In fact, the idea of political-correctness originated at the Institute for Social Research, which was created in 1923 in Frankfurt, Germany.
And political-correctness, and nothing else, is the wind beneath the wings of this alteration of 1500 years of tradition. Ms. Weiss makes the point that "CE" and "BCE" have been used by certain Jewish people, archeologists and historians for over a century, as I previously stated. But how many people are we talking about here? Jews are less than three percent of the population, and I think it's safe to say that most Jewish people weren't actively involved in the promotion of these terms. So, if you add the vast armies of archeologists and historians to the Jews who were active in this area, you're probably talking about a staggering figure that amounts to less than one percent of the population.
Clearly, it's a bit of a stretch to think that this minuscule minority possessed the ability to change the face of society without any external aid. The truth is that they didn't, but they received just such aid from puppeteers in the media and popular culture.
In reality, I feel a bit like Louis Armstrong [although I've seen the quotation attributed to Miles Davis as well] might have when asked "What is Jazz?" He replied, "If you have to ask, you'll never know." I'm trying to explain the obvious here, but I'll make one last point. Doesn't it strike you as just a bit odd, Ms. Weiss, that the rise in popularity of these terms directly coincides with the ascendancy of political-correctness?
Lastly, since Ms. Weiss mentioned archeologists, I will mention that I received a response to my article from an archeology student. This young lady stated that "Ce" and "BCE" are not even used anymore by those in her set who are on the cutting edge of societal devolution. Now they are using the abbreviation "BP," which means "Before Present." And the present, in their way of thinking, dates from 1950, which is when radio-carbon dating was invented. Go figure. It reminds me of something the late, great, Archbishop of New York Fulton J. Sheen said. To whit: "He who marries the spirit of the age will become a widower in the next."
