BBC programmes which drop the terms BC and AD are the "thin end of the wedge" in a society which is seeking to "airbrush Jesus out of the language”, according to a former chaplain to the Queen.
Gavin Ashenden, now Associate Editor of the Catholic Herald, told Premier that Christians should “fight to the death” when we see signs of an erasure of Christ in broadcasting and public life.
The author, commentator, and associate editor of the Catholic Herald dismissed suggestions that Christians are being "too precious" when they take exception to the BBC and other organisations changing the way we refer to historical dates.
A row has erupted after an educational programme for primary aged children on BBC Teach took the decision to replace BC (Before Christ) and AD (Anno Domini, meaning ‘In the year of our Lord) with the terms Before Common Era (BCE) and Common Era (CE).
The BBC defended its decision, saying some of its programmes still used BC and AD and that individual programme editors had the right to decide.
But Dr Ashenden urged Christians to stand up and defend the use of the traditional terms.
He said: “We should be responding with vigour and energy to defend Jesus. What's going on is that there is a two-pronged attack against Christianity, one coming from Islam and the other from the whole left, woke-ish people and we're…being slowly airbrushed out of society.
“But we don't have to be, we can make a fuss, we can talk about Jesus more, we can stand up and use every moment of cancellation as a platform for evangelism.”
A BBC spokesman said: “Both AD and BC, and BE and BCE are widely accepted date systems and the decision on which term to use lies with individual production and editorial teams across the BBC.”
