Is there an explanation, a cause, for the government starting and growing the welfare monstrosity we have today?

Yes!

For most of our history the churches of America helped people in real need, with personal, hands-on assistance.

And help usually included addressing the spiritual source and spiritual solution to the people’s problems.

When a real person helps a real person with a real need, there is real accountability built into the relationship.

So what happened?

People in the churches became comfortable with American prosperity.

They left behind the call to deny ourselves and help others.

Instead, their resources shifted to buying more stuff and buying insurance to protect it and storing up for retirement—the American dream.

So, money that was supposed to be used for Biblical welfare, was committed elsewhere.

Helping the needy became someone else’s job, funded by some budget.

First it was the church’s budget, then the government’s budget.

And now it seems irreversible.

Irreversible, unless Christians reverse course, financially.