The term "Protestant" as a name for Christians who reject the Catholic faith has always seemed strange to me. Over the centuries, a number of religions have risen that have claimed a Biblical basis, and even political power, and yet no equivalent term has been produced. Islam claims to be a continuation of the Jewish and Christian religions, and yet no term exists to describe non-Muslims Christians. Mormonism claims to be the restored Church of Jesus Christ, and yet no term exists for non-Mormon Christians. The only religion I am aware of that has an official name for Christians who reject its teachings is Catholicism.
But even lacking these other religions, it still makes very little sense to call non-Catholic Christians "Protestants". Although many Christians are content to accept it, and even use it readily, it actually gives Catholicism a lot more credibility than it deserves. Realistically, Christians should seek to follow the faith established by Jesus Christ according to the scriptures. This faith existed both before the Reformation and before there was a Catholic Church to protest. The Christian faith is far more about what we do believe than about what we don't. If someone were to ask a Christian "what does your religion teach", it would be a supremely inadequate response to say "my religion teaches that the Catholic Church is wrong."
The main message of the Christian faith is called the Gospel. There is more to Christianity than just the Gospel, but it all centres around the Gospel, and even the doctrines that are not the Gospel are linked to the Gospel in one way or another. The Gospel is the message that in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth, including man. It was a very good creation, and man was immortal, however the first man, Adam, rebelled against God (which is called sin), and as a result, God cursed the entire creation, a part of that curse being both physical and spiritual death. Just like our ancestor, we all continue to rebel against God, earning for ourselves His eternal wrath. However, God provided the solution through Jesus. Jesus, being fully God, came to earth to be born of a virgin, a fully human baby, who grew up as the only human being ever to walk the earth who did not sin. When the time was right, Jesus was killed via crucifixion, a method of capital punishment so painful, the word "excruciating" was invented to describe its horrors. After three days, Jesus rose from the dead, fully healed except for a few scars which He used to verify His identity to Thomas, one of His disciples. Through faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus, anyone can be reconciled to God, forgiven of all their sin and ultimately inherit eternal life in God's Kingdom when this life is over.
That message is simple, and I hope all readers are able to accept it. But for purposes of this article, I want to highlight the fact that it is completely independent of the Catholic Church. Although the Catholic Church would certainly disagree with it, its disagreement does not make it relevant. If the Catholic Church had never been created, the Gospel would still exist, completely unaltered. It was not made up in protest of the Catholic Church. It existed before the Catholic Church. Therefore, we who claim to profess this message need not accept the term "Protestant". We can afford to leave the Catholic Church in their own corner.