Weltall

I can't speak for China and India but I know that Japan uses two calander systems. They use both the christian dating system and the dating system based on the reigning emperor (a simplification but it'll do). The western system was adopted to simplify foreign relations. Official forms require that you know both systems.

Weltall, born in Showa 58.

Gregg

Eric, no offense, but your argument is not new or original.

The mistake you make is thinking that JESUS had this enormous impact during his lifetime that resulted in the calendar being dated from his "birth." (Now, personally I think Christianity began with a belief in a non-historical savior being who was later personified and historicized, mainly through the gospels, but we won't get into that.) It wasn't Jesus who had the impact, or even his immediate followers (assuming he was a real person) or his followers for several generations after. It was a diverse religious movement based on Jesus/Christ, which gradually became dominated (via shrewd marketing, politics, and strong arm tactics) by one particular sect, that had the impact. Christianity appealed to the masses, and as Christianity became more popular (including among the soldiers) hundreds of years after Jesus and his immediate followers supposedly lived, the Roman emperor Constantine made a political decision to recognize Christianity as the official religion of the Empire. Constantine himself probably didn't become a Christian.

That Christianity has had a big influence on the world doesn't prove anything about Jesus. Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism have had a huge impact also...does this prove anything about their supposed founders? How about Mormonism? In a little over 100 years it's a much bigger, richer, more unified, and much more influential church than Christianity was after the same amount of time, and it's probably growing much faster.

The "Christian" calendar is used the world over because the nations that first harnessed scientific and industrial power in a sustained and progressive way happened to be Christian. Many, many factors, not just Christianity, went into these nations becoming more or less politically and socially stable, scientific and industrial powerhouses which then colonized the world and built global empires and trade networks. Because the economic, scientific, political, and social influence of these Western, predominately Christian nations is still so strong, countries that want to participate in the global economy have naturally adopted the Western calendar (although many probably retain their own calendar for domestic use). Jesus has next to nothing to do with it, actually.

Crucifiction

What I meant to say was, that both India and China do use the Christian calendar {Although they have calendars of their own}, but they do so mostly for the benefit of Westerners there, and also most natives stick by their calendars, as opposed to the Christian one.

At least, according to my penpal that lives in New Dehli.

Casper

no. I deal with this constantly. It is the money which talks, while the lunar cycles walk. Literally. I have users around the world. They operate on Texas time. Why? Because I do, and I am their base.

How exactly do you deal with a European bank without knowing whether or not they will be closed for a three day weekend? Days are 24 hours, more or less. Full moons are not even acknowledged in a world where most people sleep through them.

Face it, the roman solar timescale was far superior in an era without electricity. No conspiracy, just practicality.