RIVERINA religious leaders have condemned a decision to use politically correct terms for the dates BC and AD in the new national history curriculum, branding it "an act of Christian cleansing".
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The long-held terms BC (Before Christ) and AD (Anno Domini) will be replaced by neutral terms BCE (Before Common Era), BP (Before Present) and CE (Common Era) under the controversial changes.
Removing the terms from history books was an "absurd attack" on the foundation of Australian society, according to Griffith Baptist minister Kevin Webb.
"It just seems tolerance only goes one way these days, and that's to the left," Reverend Webb said.
Wagga's Father Peter Thompson said it won't creep into his vocabulary and said it was a result of the "general decline of Christian civilisation".
The new curriculum was to be introduced next year but has been delayed due to the controversy.
A spokesman for the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority, which develops the national curriculum, said the new terms would be introduced because they had become an increasingly common standard for the representation of dates. Member for Murrumbidgee and NSW education minister Adrian Piccoli said he had sought advice from the Board of Studies over the proposed changes, saying he saw no need to change the dating system.
"It's not my role as minister to micro-manage the curriculum but I'm of the common view that (Christianity) is so much a part of our culture that I don't see any need to change the dates," Mr Piccoli said.
The Area News