Do you believe in evolution?

[Obnoxiously Slutty Girly Girl]

Um, yeah, who doesn't? Weird question.

[Obnoxiously Slutty Girly Girl]

BTW... just to show that I am not one-sided, and never had any intention of being so... there is actually one demonstrable link between the rise of capitalism and the rise of Protestantism, which is this:

The Catholic Church had a traditional ban on usury.  No Catholic was allowed to lend money, or goods, at any type of interest.  While Jews were occasionally placed under this ban, for the most part, Jews were the only people allowed to partake in money lending.  Not that Catholics couldn't lend money, but without interest, they couldn't make it profitable.  It's easy to see how, when Protestants lifted this ban, that helped capitalism move forward.

I'm pretty sure jmf probably didn't even know about that, though, let alone was it anything like what he was talking about.

True, though I wouldn't say the widespread legalization of usury had an entirely positive effect on society...

[Obnoxiously Slutty Girly Girl]

The mere idea of lending money and charging interest was not considered a sin. Usury then referred to the fact that a usurer would lend money and charge interest without contributing any good or service to society to justify that demand for interest.

Since the money was just being consumed, there was no possible way for a poor peasant to ever be able to repay more than what he received.

The world is different today, as money is a vehicle for investment, not just consumption. By giving up the use of his money temporarily, a lender is providing a service by which the borrower could improve himself in the long-term. The interest charged on such a loan would not be usury per the Catholic definition.