Mixing religion and politics is an idea which should be immediately discarded like last week s meat loaf. The die-hard libertarians say that the governments only legitimate functions are to carry the mail and defend the beaches. All other aspects of life should be left to individual initiative. Alternatively, die-hard liberals are always trying to expand the role of government to make things better for the downtrodden. Fortunately, the majority of the populace fall somewhere between these extremes.
Government is always an inefficient structure for accomplishing anything.
There is no motivation in government for efficiency or effectiveness. Attempts to make government more business-like only result in more paperwork to justify the inherent inefficiencies that attach themselves to bureaucracies. Charities, on the other hand, generally conduct themselves with a much higher degree of integrity and effectiveness than either local or national government. In addition to generally modestly paid staff, charities have a mission-driven focus that causes millions of people to contribute countless hours and dollars to further the work of the organization. It is my regrettable, but considered, opinion that mixing government with charities would be detrimental to faith-based organizations much like one spoiled apple ruins the barrel of good apples.