Is it rude not to capitalize the names of religions?

Question

Can a Christian be respectful enough of another religion, say Wicca or Hinduism, to capitalize those words? Or is it against the rules of Christianity to respect other religions?

Answer 1

It's grammatically incorrect in English not to capitalize the names of religions. It would be like not capitalizing the name of a town. Grammatical rules don't follow a particular faith.


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Answer 2

I think capitalization is highly overrated, since we use it in so many places in English as opposed to other languages. However, I still try to capitalize, not matter how much I disagree with a certain religions beliefs or how fast i type. But sometimes I forget, but it's not a huge deal. I see Muslims forget to capitalize their own religion all the time, and I don't see them get offended.

I have read the entire Bible, and I don't remember anything at all about respecting other religions, so I'm sad to say it's not by default.

Answer 3

To them from a biblical sense there is no harm in the capitalisim of the words - But here is an old testamnet catch - They are not allowed to even inquire as to other gods and how the "heathen" may have served them -

Now some say the old testament rules apply some say they don't -

The cultural aspect of that thought however is very real - They can't admit the idea that there may be another god or gods beyond their own

This is odd - The commandment says

Thou shalt have no other gods before me -

This implies that in fact there are other gods that one could have besides that one - but it is lost on the average christian


Please note to be fair I didn't use a capital for any gods or religion(s)

Answer 4

Christ is a name of great dignity rendered to a person widely considered to be the son of God, and almost universally regarded as a mighty prophet. Buddha is not recognized as a god at all. Hindu is not a name referring to a god. Neither is islam or muslim. Catholic, (capitalization is due to the beginning of the sentence), does not apply, either. In fact, Lutheran is the only other denomination I can think of that is considered a religion that refers to a historical person. In the strictest grammatical and punctuation sense, it would seem that it's not a matter of respect. It's a matter of whether it is a proper noun, like a name, or derived from one.

Answer 5

Good question, I would say it is rude not to capitalize....in the case of Wicca or Odinism some people may view these as mythological more than a religion.

Answer 6

Even I, an atheist, capitalize specific religions, like Christianity, or the subsects thereof, like Episcopalian. I do not, however, capitalize god, bible, or similar generic terms, as there are dozens of bible versions and thousands of gods out there.

Answer 7

One of the unwritten rules of most religions is that they are the only true religion, therefore all others are false and are not entitled to such recognition and formality. Of course, this seems especially true with modern Western Religions.

Answer 8

No, just poor grammer.
I don't particularly care how Christians write it. I certainly don't take offense. The only reason for why I capitalize anything is because it's proper grammer to do so.

Answer 9

I do capitalize the names of other religions. Please look at all of my posts. You will see that I have done so.
I do respect other religions.
You will see that in all of my posts as well.
I am a Christian.
Can you please be respectful enough of me and of other Christians like myself to not make a sweeping generalization?

Atheists: Do I need to capitalize atheist or atheism? I want to be correct in what I do. Thanks!

Answer 10

Yes, it is against the rules to respect other religions.
Deuteronomy chapter 13 tells what must be done to those who would try to take you away from your god.
He clearly wants them murdered...