by Harley Schlanger
According to transcripts from "The 700 Club" television program, in 1985-86, Pat Robertson launched a series of broadsides against Social Security on "The 700 Club." It was part of his plan for a "supra-denominational, cultural revolution on a worldwide scale," a "special revival," which he said would take aim at "centralization of power in Washington."
Robertson told viewers of "The 700 Club," "We're not going to stand for those coercive utopians in the Supreme Court and in Washington ruling over us anymore. We're not gonna stand for it. We are going to say, we want freedom in this country, and we want power, freedom back to the people where it's supposed to be."
On May 21, 1985, Robertson launched his attack on Social Security, using the same kinds of scare tactics that are now planned for the January 2005 media blitz. "The government is running—they're not telling anybody—they're running very scared.... There is going to be an awful crash. There's going to be a repudiation of debt. There's going to be a wipe-out of Social Security. Many people who are figuring on getting Social Security are not going to get any Social Security."
On Aug. 14, 1985, he said that younger Americans will be paying into Social Security, but "according to what's going on right now are not going to get a dime."
In 1986, he launched a campaign to privatize Social Security. He said on "The 700 Club," "For people who are 25 and 30 and 35, it's going to be a tragic problem in about the year 2030 because there's not gonna be enough workers, there ... will not be enough money to take care of the retirement of today's young adults.... And what we need to do is ... right now—is to phase in some kind of compulsory private system where they can begin to set aside money on their own so that 30, 40 years from now they will have enough."
Robertson's line is that of the "Christian Reconstructionists," for whom Social Security is an evil infringement on free trade and complete deregulation. The Reconstructionists, who are post-millennialists—i.e., they believe evil and evil-doers must be defeated on Earth before Jesus can return (Bush has taken on some of the beliefs of the post-millennialists since 9/11)—argue that central government and policies derived from central government, such as Social Security, are part of the plan by Secular Humanists to defeat Christianity. Elimination of Social Security, they argue, is an essential feature in establishing Biblical rule on Earth.
