by Michael Jennings, Religion News ServiceThis seems like a reasonable solution to the problem. It exposes students to the fact that different cultures look at dates in different ways, yet acknowledges the equally significant fact that there is one standard dating system worldwide, and it is historically based on an event that occurred about 2000 years ago.
Kentucky's state school board has apparently resolved a spat over historical date references in social studies classes, but not before the state's governor, facing an uphill re-election bid, seized on the issue.
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Earlier this year, staff at the Kentucky Department of Education proposed substituting C.E. (Common Era) for A.D. and B.C.E. (Before the Common Era) for B.C. in draft curriculum guidelines for high school and middle school social studies classes.
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In April, the statewide education board restored A.D. and B.C. to the guidelines, but only after including both systems — B.C./B.C.E. and A.D./C.E. The school board is expected to take final action in June on the voluntary guidelines, which spell out key concepts students are expected to master in all grades and subjects. ...
Look at the cornerstone of a synagogue, mosque, and a church, and you will see three different dating systems, each based on different historical points in time. To pretend that these cultural distinctions don't exist is to allow ideology to trump reality. Kentucky seems to have chosen well here.
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