It used to be that people depended much more on families and communities (churches and temples) for their needs, as well as on themselves, of course. When someone was in trouble, people “passed around the hat” for those truly in need, and shunned those that they deemed just lazy or the author of their own misery. I may be oversimplifying but not wildly so.
One could argue that the “entitlement” mentality, by the very name if nothing else, seeks to replace that ethic with the idea of cradle-to-grave welfare provided by the state.
Anything that weakens families and churches would, one could argue, help bring this transformation about, with the state providing all needs and therefore having the most power.
The tax-exempt status of some congregations has already been attacked to combat what has been called “anti-gay intolerance.” I expect a lot more of this.
I think you would enjoy the book, America Alone by Mark Steyn. He makes very much the argument you make and he provides all sorts of statistics, polls, and other evidence that really turns the argument from theoretical to scientific.
In other words, once you are done reading the book, what you are saying won’t merely be right because it makes sense to you, but rather, it will be right because there is scientific evidence backing up your theory.