User:Chameleon/Anno Domini

The Anno Domini system is the one used internationally to reckon the years. The abbreviation BC is used to indicate years before the notional birth of Jesus, and AD is used to indicate years after this.

Flaws

Flaws in Anno Domini system

There are several flaws in the system:

There is no year zero in this system, which does not make sense.

Flaws in other systems

However, it has the advantage of being almost universally accepted. This means that there is no chance of the system being abandoned any time soon. It is helpful to compare it with some other flawed systems that we use:

Time of day. Flaws:
1. Illogically divided into two sets of twelve hours of sixty minutes of sixty seconds. (Decimal would be preferable.)
The week. Flaws:
1. Arbitrarily divided into seven days. (Decimal would be preferable.)
2. Uses names of non-existant, mainly Norse gods (Moon Goddess's Day, Tiw's Day, Woden's Day, Thor's Day, Frige's Day, Saturn's Day, Sun God's Day).
The months. Flaws:
1. Months are of irregular length.
2. Uses a variety of nonsensical names, including non-existant Roman and Etruscan gods, arrogant emperors and out-of-synch numbering: Janus, Februus, Mars, Apru, Maia, Juno, Julius Caesar, Augustus Caesar, Seventh, Eighth, Ninth, Tenth.

Time measurements are not the only thing to which we give inappropriate names, of course.

St John's Wort. Flaws:
1. "Saint" implies, well, saintliness, and as such is factually wrong. The man was an ordinary person who happened to be declared a saint by the Catholic Church at a later date.
Queen Elizabeth II. Flaws:
1. Her real name is Elizabeth Windsor. To call her "Queen" implies acceptance of monarchy, and sets her apart from ordinary people that she is no better than.

There are very many more examples. However, it is clear that both on Wikipedia and in real life, it is generally considered sensible to put these objections to one side and use the name that most people accept and understand.

Unsuccessful attempts to correct various flaws

There have been some serious attempts to avoid some of the flaws detailed above. The most notable of these was undoubtedly the French revolutionary calendar, which decimalised and secularised the whole time system, basing the new system on the date the Republic was declared. Whilst this is to be admired, the attempt ultimately failed, and the Anno Domini system is the only viable system at this time. Similarly, Quakers object to Pagan gods in the days of the week, and therefore speak of First Day, Second Day, etc. This is in fact the norm in languages such as Portuguese and Chinese. In English, however, most people would agree that it is perfectly normal and inoffensive to say "Monday", "Tuesday", 2000 BC, etc. There are larger minorities that propose BCE and CE (standing for "Before Common Era" and "Common Era", but these minorities are nevertheless using terms that the vast majority of people do not understand and do not see a need for, any more than new names for the months are needed.

The main difference between the various flawed systems is that on Wikipedia, only the Anno Domini is currently under attack.

Arguments given in favour of correcting flaws in the Anno Domini system

The straw man argument that Anno Domini means "in the year of our lord", whereas in reality there is no "our". The Dominus (Domini is a form of this word) mentioned in AD is no more specific than the Christ mentioned in BC.