Regular readers of this blog have undoubtedly noticed that I do not normally capitalise the words 'protestant' or 'protestantism'. I do capitalise both if they appear as the initial word in a sentence or in the formal name of a denomination, such as the Protestant Episcopal Church or the Methodist Protestant Church.
Why? Well it is obvious to me that protestant is an adjective and protestantism is a generic noun encompassing thousands of different sects, large and small, Formal English capitalises neither adjectives nor generic nouns and neither do I.
But my spell checker disagrees! Every time I type either word, it is flagged as misspelt. Not as an 'unknown word' which I could add to my personal dictionary, but as a simple misspelling. Hence, every time I use either word, I have to click 'dismiss' or it continues to be flagged as an error whilst I'm proofreading.
Of course, I have the opposite problem with 'Catholic'. Since it also has the non-religious meaning of 'eclectic' or 'widespread' as in 'He was a man of catholic tastes', it doesn't flag it if I miss the upper case 'C'.
I'm thankful for the spell checker. It catches many of my typos, but I do wish I could convert it to the Faith!
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Comments are subject to deletion if they are not germane. I have no problem with a bit of colourful language, but blasphemy or depraved profanity will not be allowed. Attacks on the Catholic Faith will not be tolerated. Comments will be deleted that are republican (Yanks! Note the lower case 'r'!), attacks on the legitimacy of Pope Francis as the Vicar of Christ (I know he's a material heretic and a Protector of Perverts, and I definitely want him gone yesterday! However, he is Pope, and I pray for him every day.), the legitimacy of the House of Windsor or of the claims of the Elder Line of the House of France, or attacks on the legitimacy of any of the currently ruling Houses of Europe.