BC and AD? That’s so last year, schools told in Church snub
Marilyn Manson is hurt as stage set collapses on him during show New mum Cheryl’s Vamp look
SCHOOLS are ditching the terms BC and AD for fear of offending non-Christians.
Despite Jewish and Islamic figures saying the terms are not offensive, schools are being told to drop the phrases in favour of BCE – which stands for Before Common Era – and CE, meaning Common Era.
The move sparked condemnation after it was revealed in the new syllabus for schools in East Sussex.
It states: “BCE and CE are now used in order to show sensitivity to those who are not Christians.”
Former Archbishop of Canterbury Lord Carey said the ruling was a “great shame”, adding: “I have never met a Muslim or Jewish leader who is offended by the Gregorian calendar.”
Yesterday a leading Islamic scholar and imam Ibrahim Mogra said: “I don’t believe it causes Muslims offence.”
A spokesman for the Board of Deputies of British Jews said: “I don’t think anyone would mind if in mainstream schools they used BC and AD.”
Chris McGovern, chairman for the Campaign for Real Education, said: “Removing BC and AD is a capitulation to political correctness.”
But the British Qualifications and Curriculum Authority defended the move.
A spokesman said: “It’s not a question of one way is wrong and one is right – more a question of which is most commonly used.
“BCE/CE is becoming an industry standard among historians. Pupils have to be able to recognise these terms.”
Schools are advised by local authority standing advisory councils on religious education.
Paul Smalley, chairman of their national association, said individual councils and schools “can make a judgment over which form of dating is appropriate”. ROCK star Marilyn Manson was rushed to hospital yesterday after a stage prop fell on him mid-concert.
Video of the controversial star on stage at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York showed two huge prop guns attached to scaffolding collapse on him.
The 48-year-old was singing his cover of the Eurythmics hit Sweet Dreams when the stage scenery fell on him. The gig was stopped immediately.
He was stretchered off stage and taken to hospital. It is thought he suffered back and leg injuries.
A spokesman for the star said: “Manson suffered an injury towards the end of an incredible NYC show.”
His guitarist, Tyler Bates, wrote Recently, the host of BBC One’s Mastermind, John Humphrys, admitted he was “angry with himself” for using the term BCE in a recent edition of the programme.
He said: “I did use that ridiculous expression and I am angry with myself because I can’t stand BCE and all that sort of stuff.
“It was a last-minute question or something which I hadn’t had time to check over. So I just read what was in front of me. And then you think, ‘My God, did I really read that?’
“I hope you do not hear me saying BCE again or anything like it again.
“Everyone knows where we are when we say BC and AD and that is how I want to keep it.”
BC and AD were begun by Romanian monk Dionysius Exiguus in the year 525.
Common Era dates from the 17th century, when it was adopted as an alternative to using the year of a monarch’s reign. on Instagram: “The tour is on pause for a minute. Heading home. Manson will be back in action soon.”
This was the second time in as many days that the singer has suffered an on-stage injury.
Appearing in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on Friday he slipped off the stage, injuring his ankle.
He has been touring ahead of the release of his 10th album, Heaven Upside Down, and is due to play in the UK later this year.
Born Brian Warner in Canton, Ohio, the singer first shot to notoriety with his seminal 1996 album, Antichrist Superstar. VAMPING it up, Cheryl was back at work yesterday after having a baby. The former X Factor judge, who has been a brand ambassador for L’Oreal since 2009, led a host of celebrity models down the catwalk at the company’s show during Paris Fashion Week. Cheryl, 34, who gave birth to Bear, her son by One Direction’s Liam Payne, 24, was joined by Dame Helen Mirren, 72, who strutted her stuff in a vintage-style suit.