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For hundreds of years, it was clear you could buy your way into heaven. Indulgences they were called.

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Yes, I remember that. Wasn't it one of Martin Luther's main criticisms?

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Martin Luther AND the Venetians shared their hostility of the reigning pole and his 'taxes'. The Venician team printed Martin Luther tracts and seditious publications through their virtual monopoly on the printing technology of the day. Then after the Venetians were almost annihilated, they cut a survival deal, with a new pope and immediately dispersed to Amsterdam, London and Madrid. Married into high society, applied their double entry bookkeeping, managed the east Indies trading ventures to new heights and prospered up to this day. Voila, here wwe are with post Christian, neoliberal economies :{

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Thanks for this fascinating history lesson. I love wading in waters where more knowledgeable people swim.

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Pope not pole :))

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Uncle, the three dots in a vertical line to the right of your post has an edit feature.

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Yes, and he wasn't the only one.

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