Fred said it best

As a conservative Christian, I have often listened to liberals preach about helping the less fortunate. It's the right thing to do; it's the loving thing to do; it's the Christian thing to do. I have no disagreement with them on this point. My disagreement comes in just how we should help those in need.

Liberals seem to assign this role to the government. My contention has always been that it's the role of the individual, not that of the government, to lend a helping hand. How loving is it, after all, if the government decides to help the poor and then tells me that it's going to get the money to do this from my taxes, whether I want to give it or not? Does being forced to support those in need show love? I don't think so.

Republican presidential candidate Fred Thompson recently explained it this way:

Christ didn’t tell us to go to the government and pass a bill to get some of these social problems dealt with. He told us to do it.

I don't think the limited role of the government and the responsibility of the individual in dealing with social problems could be stated any better than that.