Comments (21) (Please sign in to comment)

1. 

   Nabuquduriuzhur said, 4 months ago

   B.C. is the official abbrieviation, with the singular exception of Israel, which uses B.C.E.
2. 

   Three Steps Over Japan said, 4 months ago

   Where else would you have the 300 Spartans?
3. 

   thomascall said, 4 months ago

   @Nabuquduriuzhur
   BC is the old abbreviation, Before Christ, BCE, Before Current Era, is secular version, and is now more official
4. 

   Andrew_C said, 4 months ago

   @Nabuquduriuzhur

   Actually BCE has been the official terminology for quite a while, it’s just not the popular terminology in most places.
5. 

   kroykali said, 4 months ago

   BC – Before Christ.
   BCE – Before Common Era.

   Anything to take God out of everything, right?
6. 

   Three Steps Over Japan said, 4 months ago

   @Nabuquduriuzhur

   Where do you get this stuff? Official according to which regulatory agency?
7. 

   Eddurd said, 4 months ago

   (TUNE: “Five Hundred Miles”, Hedy West)
   
   Now I’ve got to save the day!
   It’s just like Thermopylae,
   With the Spartans in 480 BCE!
   In BCE, in BCE,
   Agnostic scientists agree,
   They refer to ancient years as BCE!
   
   Oh, the things that I could do
   With Leonidas and his crew!
   Kicking Persian ass with just 300 guys!
   Three hundred guys, three hundred guys,
   They sure gave Xerxes a surprise!
   Cut them down to size with just 300 guys!
   
   I wish they were here again,
   All those sweaty, muscled men,
   Wish I had 300 Spartans at my back!
   At my back, at my back,
   When the zombie hordes attack,
   I need Spartan muscle coming from the back!
8. 

   QuiteDragon said, 4 months ago

   @kroykali

   Metaphysically absurd. How can you take God, if She exists, out of anything?
9. 

   puddleglum1066 said, 4 months ago

   @Nabuquduriuzhur

   I thought Israel, having been around since long before the BC/BCE-AD/CE thing, just uses the Hebrew year (currently 5773). Does away with all that having to count up or down nonsense.

   I think we should use an absolute date from the Big Bang, which would make this 14500005773. Give or take…
10. 

    SeaFox10 said, 4 months ago

    LOL! As weird as it is, I love this strip!
11. 

    Gopher Baroque said, 4 months ago

    By the way, while Leonidas was preparing to hold the pass, a Persian envoy arrived. The envoy explained to Leonidas the futility of trying to resist the advance of the huge Persian army and demanded that the Spartans lay down their arms. Leonidas told Xerxes “MOLON LABE”, or “Come And Get Them.”
    Although successful in holding the pass for several days, they were finally overrun after being betrayed by a local resident named Ephialtes, who showed the Persians another small pass flanking the defenders.
12. 

    atreyuhibiki said, 4 months ago

    Re: BC/BCE.
    In the USA, at least, most public schools “officially” teach the BCE terminology, but very few people I know actually use the term. Generally, it tends to be used by very active atheists or very scientifically minded people.

    The BCE term exists for the express purpose of removing reference to a religious figure (Christ) out of a scientific field (chronology).

    Most people who aren’t active about that kind of thing seem to prefer to take the lazier way and not say an extra syllable.

    It’s possible that it’s very common in non-Christian religious areas, such as Jewish or Muslim homes. I have no idea.

    (Yes, I’m generalizing a lot because I’m speaking from personal experience, not any kind of survey or anything.)
13. 

    t0c said, 4 months ago

    @kroykali

    Changing the terminology so that it doesn’t put off a rather huge portion of the population of the planet doesn’t take God out of anything. God is, was, and will be, and doesn’t need us to start all kinds of discord over such things. BCE makes more sense to Muslims, Buddhists, Animists, and all the other -ists who have as much say in the history of the world as we do.

    Lighten up, the war against Christianity, at least in the US, exists only in the minds of those who think that their brand of Christianity should be shoved down everyone’s throats.

    Try turning the other cheek. You know, like Jesus said.
14. 

    Night-Gaunt49 said, 4 months ago

    @kroykali

    We should never have started a new calender why it is such a bother to count backwards to year 1, there is no year zero.
15. 

    Night-Gaunt49 said, 4 months ago

    @puddleglum1066

    @Nabuquduriuzhur is his own world.
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