The Tragedy of American Compassion by Marvin Olasky should be read in this regard.See also, the opening paragraphs of Common Sense (1776):
SOME writers have so confounded society with government, as to leave little or no distinction between them; whereas they are not only different, but have different origins. Society is produced by our wants, and government by our wickedness; the former promotes our happiness POSITIVELY by uniting our affections, the latter NEGATIVELY by restraining our vices. The one encourages intercourse, the other creates distinctions. The first is a patron, the last a punisher.Society in every state is a blessing, but Government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state an intolerable one: for when we suffer, or are exposed to the same miseries BY A GOVERNMENT, which we might expect in a country WITHOUT GOVERNMENT, our calamity is heightened by reflecting that we furnish the means by which we suffer. Government, like dress, is the badge of lost innocence; the palaces of kings are built upon the ruins of the bowers of paradise. For were the impulses of conscience clear, uniform and irresistibly obeyed, man would need no other lawgiver; but that not being the case, he finds it necessary to surrender up a part of his property to furnish means for the protection of the rest; and this he is induced to do by the same prudence which in every other case advises him, out of two evils to choose the least. Wherefore, security being the true design and end of government, it unanswerably follows that whatever form thereof appears most likely to ensure it to us, with the least expense and greatest benefit, is preferable to all others. - Thomas Paine,
Yup... I didn’t say anything new.
But also New Testament philosophy backs up this notion. Because the special covenant land of Israel was a theocracy by intention, doesn’t mean that other countries are bidden by God to imitate this. The New Testament clarifies that the successes and failures of biblical Israel stand as examples for the sake of the church. Not for the sake of civic affairs in secular countries.
God really isn’t a celestial fiend. He doesn’t want us hurling ourselves into unnecessary battles, which can hurt us more than our external enemies can.
And positive minded organizations don’t even have to be Christian churches. The Christian church is the ultimate entity, or should be, in this category. But there are secular charities too, and they mostly carry out good works, if more distantly from God than the Christian church. Far may it be from me to try to stop them.
If, however, we stopped operating on the government grant basis, things could get better, not worse, as the taxation needed to support the grants could stop — and so could the bite taken by the government middlemen. I think this is the kind of greatness that Donald Trump has in mind, as opposed to the illusory “great society” which turned out to be a confused, biblically unwise society.