“God is my art agent.”

File under: Thomas Kinkade. Not only does he take advantage of “art”-loving moms and grandmoms, he also kicks gallery owners in their metaphorical necks. Witness this San Francisco Chronicle article. Excerpt:

Kinkade and other company officials used terms like “partner,” “trust,” “Christian” and “God” to create “a certain religious environment designed to instill a special relationship of trust” with the couple.

What the company didn’t tell them, said their attorney, was that they would have to sell Kinkade’s works at minimum retail prices while the artist undercut them with discount sales, some of which he made himself on cable television.

It was part of a plan, they claimed, to lower the value of the publicly traded company before Kinkade bought it in 2004, at steep losses to many investors. Hazlewood and Spinello put their $122,000 savings into galleries in Charlottesville and Fredericksburg, Va., that opened in 1999 and 2000 and closed in 2003.

Tricksy stuff from the painter of light. But let’s face it, businesses have been using God for centuries to separate the faithful from their coin. It’s bad enough we have to deal with religious hucksters hawking their wares. If you’re going to be loud and proud about your christian faith, please be the most ethical and kind and giving business person on the planet. Anything less and you’re dragging God down with you.