Yah pretty much.
Like. The Reformation broadly started as a decentralised movement against the Catholic Church’s authority in western europe. BUT the only reason the likes of Martin Luther and John Calvin weren’t killed for the shit they were stirring up (and/or forced to retract it on penalty of torture and death) –
– Was because they were being protected by the then-nascent bourgeoisie class, who loved the wild ideas that the two were putting forward, like Luther’s Sola Fide theology that said they would go to heaven as long as they believed in Jesus, even if they did every sin in the book and never performed one good act in their lives, or Calvin’s predestination theology that said people were already born bound for heaven or hell, and being wealthy/poor on earth was a sign of divine favour/displeasure.
You gotta remember people were a lot more religious then. So these merchant princes really liked these guys who were telling them “no no, it’s okay, the Church IS a bunch of cunts, and don’t worry, that camel-through-eye-of-needle thing in the bible is all bullshit and you being richer than a king is a sign you’re going to super-heaven which is better than regular heaven”
If you see shades of modern day American megachurch Prosperity Theology in this? Good, you should. That’s where it started.
Not to say the catholic church was ever nice (I just said they would have killed two guys if they weren’t under the protection of other powerful people), but protestantism was broadly boosted by capitalism, because it soothed and comforted capitalists.
They all suck in different ways. But I actually think the Catholics are more chill in general, the fucked up shit their bishops get up to notwithstanding, the Catholic Church has mostly just stayed in the background since the early 20th century. Letting the world do its thing while occasionally calling something or another sinful (and only their faithful listening).
Contrasting with the influence Protestantism has in like. All of US Conservative Ideology, which trickles outwards to conservatives EVERYWHERE.
They may not have a pope to embody the face of their ideology (though Trump is in the process of becoming that, watch this space), but it is a consistent ideology, and its god is wealth, and poverty and deviance the greatest sins.