No, it doesn't literally suggest those founders are Protestant, it suggests those founders are following certain cultural norms that originated in highly-Protestant parts of the Northeast US, sometimes called the 'Protestant work ethic'. It does not say you need to be Protestant to follow those norms.

I found insightful, and completely agree with, the original "Protestant zealotry" assessment - it's not a religious argument, it's a philosophical one.

It has everything to do with a moral perspective - that righteousness and wealth go hand in hand, and it does indeed come from the culture of the European Reform. It's not a matter of Christianity, it's mostly absent from Catholicism, and I suppose other strains.

Think of the meaning, the moral implications, of the phrase "the deserving poor". Try translating it into other languages, and see what happens.

WADR you've read the comment wrong. It literally does say Protestant, but it doesn't mean they are Protestants. Someone can have a fanaticism associated with Protestants without actually being one, and that's what he means.

I also think it's actually not that confusing, assuming you're experienced in reading English. It might be more subtle if you spend most of your time in other languages.

> The comment literally suggests

There is the root of your misunderstanding.