We seem to be suffering some semantic problems. Being raised a Catholic I don't have a theological background in Protestant theology and have to fall back on what I have found in my reading of history. I seem to recall that success in business was seen by some post-reformation religious groups as a sign of God's grace. Whether this is fairly categorized as part of the "Protestant ethic" or is merely "Prosperity theology" is a point I will have to take your word on.

As far as Christian charity is concerned, I thought the idea was to give to those who were in need, not who proved themselves worthy.

As far as Art (the person and the avocation)is concerned, I can bring forward no better example of value and hardwork that gets unfairly rewarded in monetary terms under our economic system. This system unfairly distributes the wealth. It cares not a whit for a man who dedicates his life to raising the human spirit (through music or ART) and amply rewards any CPA who can help you avoid paying your taxes. It rewards speculators in hog futures more than the people who raise the hogs. It rewards (and celebrates)what the church used to condemn as "Usery". I still don't understand how you can justify this?

One other "semantic" point: When I rail against "Capitalists" I am not condemning all businessmen. I am talking about those in the economy whose sole business is making money. There is a real difference between a baker who has his own business and a man who invests in bakeries. A baker will bake even when there is little profit in it; a man who invests in bakeries will shut 'em down and turn them into butcher shops if that will generate more dough (pun intended). In my opinion, this is the crux of the problem with our economy. There are too many people making money investing in things and too few making money creating things. Investing is where the big money is. The problem with our political system is that it favors the investing class. And the peanuts that those of us in the middle class make on our 401k plans and the like are a sop to get our buy in. It wouldn't surprise me if that wasn't part of the rationale behind Bush's Social Security investment plan also. We will all learn the meaning of real "Christian Charity" if the bottom drops out of the market.

But this is a whole 'nother rant, and I'm ranted out for now. There is work to do.