u/Fabulous-Catch2220

I’ve been thinking about this for a while and I’m genuinely curious how atheists see it. I’m not trying to start a fight or “convert” anyone, I just want honest opinions because it seems like a weird contradiction nobody talks about.

When people say “we’re in the year 2026,” that numbering system exists because of Jesus and Christianity. The entire calendar most of the world uses is based around the idea of “before Christ” and “after Christ” (even if people now say BCE/CE instead). So technically, every single time someone mentions the current year, they’re referencing the estimated birth of Jesus in some way.

What surprises me is that I’ve never really heard atheists question this or avoid it. Nobody says “the Earth is 4.5 billion years old so this is year 4,500,000,000+.” Everybody just casually says 2026 without thinking about it. I understand that it’s the global standard and obviously it would be inconvenient to invent a completely different calendar system just to avoid religious origins, but I still wonder if it feels strange at all from an atheist perspective.

Like, does saying “2026” feel purely cultural and practical to you, the same way people use names of weekdays that originally came from Norse gods without actually believing in those gods? Or does it ever feel ironic because the calendar itself comes from a religion you don’t believe in?

I’ve seen atheists criticize religious traditions, phrases, holidays, and symbols before, so I’m curious why the calendar almost never gets mentioned. Is it just too deeply integrated into society to care about, or do most atheists simply separate the historical origin of something from personal belief?

Again, not trying to troll anyone. I’m honestly interested in how atheists think about this.

fiest off,i m a Christian,so mostly people of my religion will kinda understand my theory.
god made everything we have and everything we are,we,humans are one of,if not his greatest work,so in an universe that has been around and will be around for way more billions of years,it is impossible that we,the best creation of god,live only 80 years.this is probably a break from what we really are,heaven exists because we need to go somewhere after we die as humans.i can t possibly believe that the best creation lives for not even a fraction of the universe s age.i think we don t live longer than like 80 years on earth because of overpopulation,we re 8 billion people and most live max 80 years,if we would live to like 400,in like 1000 years we would have no space left on earth.
this is a theory thought by me,i m young and don t know a lot about religion and what not.also i m not an american so sorry for any grammatical mistakes i ve made.thanks!