it takes so long, my Lord

I'm shocked, I say, shocked to find out about this. Somehow, in my progressive lifestyle I was not aware that certain folks are trying to change the calender.

Why, you might ask? Is this perhaps like Episode #38 of West Wing, where Cartographers for Social Responsibility press their case for a new revision of world map, insisting that the common Mercator Projection map is inaccurate and Eurocentric?

Well, maybe not. It seems some in the extreme PC element of the progressive movement have decided that the terms BC and AD are offensive, and recommend that they be replaced by BCE (Before Common Era) and CE (Common Era).

My sister, ever the community activist, especially when it involves schools and her kids, informs me that certain school districts in very tolerant Orange County, CA, are now supporting these new designations.

Read here, for example:

Imagine how you would feel if the notation were BM and AM where "M" stood for Mithra -- a mythical god-man from Persia on whom the religion of Mithraism was created. (Mithraism was the main competitor to Christianity at one time). You would be offended, and distressed at having to acknowledge such a god-man every time that you wrote a date. Well, this is how many non-Christians feel about BC ("Before Christ") and AD ("Anno Domini" or "In the year of the Lord"). Consider Native Americans, many of whom associate Christ and Christianity with the genocide of their ancestors. Consider Jews, many of whom consider the Nazi Holocaust to have been founded on centuries of Christian Anti-semitism.

I see their point. I oppose government money spent on 10 Commandments stones in public courthouses, mandatory prayer in schools, school vouchers, in short, all the religion v. state issues.

I believe that the US was not founded on Judea-Christian values, but rather, as Jefferson says, on Natural Law.

I believe in treating all faiths (and lacks thereof) with decency and fairness.

I don't want anyone telling me or mine when, how, or to whom to pray.

So I'm sorry if I seem conflicted, or not quite progressive enough when I say, STOP IT!

There are so many battles to be fought, where real differences can be made:

• Social Security
• Darfur
• Health Care
• Minimum Wage
• Middle East
• Gay Rights
• Medicaid
• Nuclear Proliferation
• Energy Dependency
• Dick Cheney
• Paul Wolfiwitz
• Alberto Gonzales
• Carl Rove
• Tom Delay
• ...
  

Well, you get the idea. This may be important and meaningful, but for the love of (insert name of diety here) let's focus on issues that really matter. Semantics and verbage, while important (see: Death Tax, Liberal Media, Democrat Party, Culture of Lfe, etc.) are less relevant as goals to focus upon.

Please, keep the forest in sight, and don't worry quite so much about individual trees.