Below, you will find a fictional dialogue between two unusual friends – Justin and Justina. In this conversation, Justin explains to a befuddled Justina why he is “triggered” by the use of “BCE” and “CE” instead of “BC” and “AD” after he sees her old philosophy paper. Will they find “common” ground, or will their debate continue into the next anno? Sorry, I couldn’t help it.
(Justin and Justina are a fictional New Leaf Journal dialogue duo created by New Leaf Journal editor Nicholas A. Ferrell. Their dialogues cover their strange, sometimes random conversations (usually) in Brooklyn, New York. If you enjoy this dialogue, you can find many (over 50) more in our Justin and Justina Collection hub.)
AD vs CE: The Dialogue
Below, you will find the dialogue between Justin and Justina on the subject of AD vs CE after a brief introduction.
Setting the Stage
In response to one of Justina’s life quandaries, Justin began quoting Epictetus’s Enchiridion, which he insisted was a favorite work of the Pumpkin Taker (much to Justina’s chagrin). Justina vaguely remembered having written a paper about Enchiridion in college. Justin told her to send it. Justina found the paper and set it to Justin. We pick up in their Element Messenger chat after Justin finished reading Justina’s college-era content. (Sadly, this series is still not sponsored by Element messenger.)
Dialogue Part I
Justin: I liked your paper, but it triggered me.
Justina: Triggered? What about it? I’m pretty sure I just wrote a summary.
Justin: You used “CE” instead of “AD”
Justina: So? Isn’t that the PC thing these days?
Justin: That’s exactly it. It makes no sense. What’s “common” about this era?
Justina: I don’t know. Is it really that important?
Justin: Our names have something in common, right? Those pumpkins that Pumpkin Taker still leaves out in freezing weather have something in common.
Justina: If I hear Pumpkin Taker one more time…
Justin: But the era isn’t common. Chinese commie propaganda. The birth of Christ is the turning point on our calendar. This PC nonsense is even worse than when my elementary school teacher convinced my class that “AD” meant “after death.”
Intermission
Dialogue Part II
Justina: I just looked on Wikipedia. It says that Common Era was once used in 1708. There weren’t any Chinese commies then.
Justin: Look at the next paragraph.
Justina: Ok fine. So it does talk about Chinese commies.
Justin: You see? Nothing common. Don’t trust Wikipedia anyway. All secular PC calendar nonsense. We’re never going to recapture Constantinople with people trying to usher in the PC era.
Justina: I’ll admit that you may have a point about the calendar… but should you be this worked up about “nonsense”?
Justin: What do you mean? I’m already building an army of chickens to recapture Constantinople.
Justina: Since October, you’ve claimed that you have a pitching injury despite not playing baseball. You said that every turkey is a chicken that was painted brown. Let’s not forget when you claimed that the weathermen falsely say there’s a small chance of rain to mess with us.
Justin: I won’t stand for this. I do have an old pitching injury.
Justina: …
Justin: Gotta run, pipe organ practice. Busy time coming up, you know.
Justina: I turn to the audience to inform everyone that he actually does have pipe organ practice.
Justin: Merry Christmas to all The New Leaf Journal readers – and even Pumpkin Taker.
Justina: We’ll see you again before New Years!
