It seems that political correctness has taken yet another step toward insanity. As reported last week by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, students in the Rockwood School District are being taught an alternative to the calendar designations of B.C. (Before Christ)and A.D. (Anno Domini, Latin for “in the year of the Lord.”)
Dean Mandis, a father of two students in the Rockwood School District (also the school district of my children) addressed the district’s school board last week regarding his concerns that his daaughter was being taught the concepts of B.C.E. (Before the Common Era) and C.E. (Common Era) as alternatives to the dating system that has been in place for HUNDREDS OF CENTURIES!
“Introducing B.C.E./C.E. in conjunction with B.C./A.D. in the classroom is to deny the historical basis of the dating system and ultimately leads to confusion,” Mandis told the board. Mandis said this teacher’s decision was “irresponsible” and possibly “a dangerous and slippery slope.” (quoted from Tim Townsend’s article in the Post and on stltoday.com.)
Apparently, according to a source in the article, the movement to use C.E. and B.C.E. in western academia began in the 1980s. When something similar happened in Kentucky in 2006, Christians fought it and the effort to use the new dating system disappeared. Gotta hand it to you, KY! (that’s for my husband and his relatives.)
Not surprisingly, the same textbook companies that have been re-writing history for the last few decades to make it more politically correct and less offensive are at least partially to blame for this effort. Craig Larson, Rockwood School District superintendent, wrote this explanation on his blog:
“Within the last 10-15 years, CE/BCE has started to appear in student textbooks, usually along with AD/BC and sometimes with just one or the other mentioned. Teachers make sure that students are aware of both designations so they are literate when they encounter either notation.”
I understand the textbook companies desire to sell textbooks. When I was a newspaper reporter, people used to accuse us of writing things “just to sell newspapers.” I’d say, “We need to sell newspapers, folks. This isn’t a not-for-profit operation.” But that didn’t mean we had license to write things that were false. I understand that you can probably sell more textbooks if your books are vanilla enough to not offend ANYONE, that doesn’t make them accurate.
I’ll never forget when my oldest came home from kindergarten telling me that the pilgrims celebrated Thanksgiving to thank the Native Americans (see, I can be PC) for helping them survive in the new country. Seriously? While the pilgrims may very well have owed a debt of gratitude to any Native Americans who helped them learn to live in this untame land, it was NOT the Indians who they were thanking that first Thanksgiving. Still, when I investigated, that was the message of the book my daughter’s teacher was reading to her class. No mention of thanking God on Thanksgiving — just the natives.
As Larson pointed out, Rockwood School District doesn’t write textbooks, and the district has a responsibility to help our students understand dates in any way they may be presented. But I’m with Mandis — it’s a slippery slope. I think the district should reject any textbooks that teach an inaccurate history of Thanksgiving, and then the textbook companies won’t print falsities about that holiday.
Our dating system shouldn’t offend anyone. B.C. doesn’t stand for ”Before Christ, the one true God, Son of Man, Risen Savior.” And the newer system of dating doesn’t change anything — the calendar is still measured in terms of the birth of Jesus Christ. So let’s stop erasing God from our history.
Larson says the school district doesn’t have a “policy” on dates. Maybe we should have a policy and that policy should be that we will continue to teach our children the principles upon which this country was founded in regard to everything, including the dating system. If you are a Rockwood parent and you feel strongly about this, a group of parents have started a petition on the topic. You can sign it here.
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