Political correctness gone mad? I have no idea but it seems pretty pathetic to me!

Replacing God by G-d is actually a very old idea, based on the idea from the Jewish (and other) religions, that the name of God should never be spoken - and hence not written either, at least in profane (i.e. non-sacred) documents. You find it a lot in 18th century writings. BCE is a not do other religions - Islam, Hinduism etc. While they may or may not admit the historic existence of Jesus, it is irritating to have to refer to the figurehead of a religion to which you do not subscribe - especially when you have your own, different, calendar. The AD/BC system implies that the Christian calendar is in some way the right one. CE/BCE implies simply that it is the most widely used one, which is more even handed.

1) "The words "God" and "Lord" (used for the Hebrew Adonai) are often written by many Jews as "G-d" and "L-rd" as a way of avoiding writing a name of God, so as to avoid the risk of sinning by erasing or defacing His name. In Deuteronomy 12:3-4, the Torah exhorts one to destroy idolatry, adding, "you shall not do such to the LORD your God." From this verse it is understood that one should not erase the name of God. The general rabbinic opinion is that this only applies to the sacred Hebrew names of God — but not to the word "God" in English or any other language. Even among Jews who consider it unnecessary, many nonetheless write the name "God" in this way out of respect, and to avoid erasing God's name even in a non-forbidden way." Source and further information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G-d#In_English 2) "Common Era (also known as Christian Era and Current Era; abbreviated CE) is a designation for the period of time beginning with year 1 of the proleptic Gregorian calendar. An earlier date is then designated BCE, described as "Before the Common", "Christian", or "Current Era". The numbering of years is identical to the numbering in the Anno Domini system, neither system using a year zero. Originating among Christians in Europe at least as early as 1615 (at first in Latin), Common Era notation has been adopted in several non-Christian cultures, by many scholars in religious studies and other academic fields, and by others wishing to be sensitive to non-Christians, since Common Era does not explicitly make use of religious titles for Jesus, such as Christ and Lord, which are used in the AD/BC notation. The use of BCE and CE has been criticized by some (who favor the BC/AD system) as being "the result of secularization" and "political correctness"." Source and further information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BCE

not sure why