In the new book, "Taking America Back: A Radical Plan to Revive Freedom Morality and Justice," author and worldnetdaily.com founder Joseph Farah describes the United States as a moral wasteland and calls on Americans to embrace God. His proposal for change includes abolishing the income tax and the IRS, withdrawing from all international treaties and institutions, repealing all gun laws and ending federal funding for schools, the arts, conservation, housing and agriculture while simultaneously expanding the role of the church in national life, including actively censoring the entertainment industry and having a direct role in education and family life.

Farah was online Wednesday, March 12 at 1 p.m. ET, to talk about the book and field questions and comments.

A transcript follows.

Editor's Note: Washingtonpost.com moderators retain editorial control over Live Online discussions and choose the most relevant questions for guests and hosts; guests and hosts can decline to answer questions.

Joseph Farah: We could run the entire federal government at 1990s levels WITHOUT an income tax.

Norcross, Ga.: Home schooling is a big part of your 12-step plan. In many families, both adults work in order to maintain their lifestyle and to keep their heads above water. Who is going to do this home schooling and can it truly be done by reverting back to one income?

Joseph Farah: Home-schooling is not for everyone. But families where both parents are working need to get priorities straight. Just how important are our children?

Bethesda, Md.: How did you come up with the idea for your book and how long did it take to write and research for it?

Joseph Farah: I came up with the idea for the book while working on WorldNetDaily. In the news business, we're constantly confronted with problems and with exposing injustices, fraud, waste, abuse and corruption. The most common question I get in that process is, "OK, Farah, what do we do about this now?" My answers are this book, "Taking America Back."

Columbia, S.C.: Why should we get rid of The Department of Agriculture, The Endowment for the Arts and PBS?

Joseph Farah: We should get rid of them because they are extra-constitutional agencies. Nowhere in the Constitution can you find justification for such programs.

Dale City, Va.: Given that the government has gotten so large over the last 60 years and that so many people are feeding at the "trough" isn't your book merely a grand gesture signifying nothing but a grand decay that will be conspicuously ignored by both government and people?

Joseph Farah: No, I really believe this book can make a difference -- otherwise I would not have written it. I believe ordinary people making good decisions in their lives can have a profound impact on the direction of our country. And that social revolution can happen faster than most of us think.

Tel Aviv, Israel: Dear Joseph Farah

I just wanted to let you know that I admire you. You are my Hero!

Yossi

Joseph Farah: Thank you so much!

Austin, Tex.: I have found that most people, even those interested in the subject, have little historical context regarding the Arab-Israeli conflict. Thank you for your tireless efforts to set the record straight.

Clearly, the present situation in Israel in relation to the Palestinians is unviable in the long term. My question is this: If there is to be a light at the end of this tunnel, what changes have to be made by both parties in the present? And once they have emerged from that tunnel, what will a satisfactory arrangement for both parties look like?

Joseph Farah: Right now, only one side is interested in making changes. That's what has to change. God bless!

Alexandria, Va.: I notice that Patrick Buchanan is still on WND. Is he a conservative or an antiwar peacenik?

Joseph Farah: We run all kinds of viewpoints on WorldNetDaily. Agreement with me is not a litmus test.

Suffield, Conn.: What is your position on the actions of the We The People organizations' petitions (under the 1st amendment) against the IRS?

Joseph Farah: I support the movement. It is demanding the government answer questions. The government is refusing to be accountable to the people.

Piscataway, N.J.: Do you plan to start Worldnetdaily radio again? Also do you one day plan to have a Worldnetdaily Television?

Joseph Farah: I would love to do more multimedia enterprises. Unfortunately, they will have to pull their weight and we will have to figure out how to make them pay for themselves the way the Web site does.

Piscataway, N.J.: I was wondering if you have contacted Robert Baer to be a columnist for Worldnetdaily?

Joseph Farah: Never heard of him.

Charlotte, N.C.: What are you going to substitute for the Federal income tax? With such a wide variety of dogma within all religions how do you incorporate them into government policy and programs?

Joseph Farah: Look at the Constitution. It explains how the government can constitutionally raise money. Tariffs is the number one method.

Mt. Rainier, Md.: Assertion is not proof. If we do not run the government via income taxes, what do we run the government on? And in what respect will it be as fair or fairer than the current system?

Joseph Farah: The founders saw tariffs as the principle method. As you know, they were dead-set against any form of DIRECT taxation on the people.

Roseville, Calif.: Why do you think our media is afraid (or unwilling) to criticize Islam, but is so eager to mock and ridicule Christianity?

Joseph Farah: It's multiculturalism gone mad!

Washington, D.C.: Sir, given your position on the Middle East crisis and your ethnic background, I would be surprised if you haven't received death threats. Are you concerned for your personal safety?

Joseph Farah: I have received many death threats -- at least a dozen that have been turned over to the FBI. I'm not concerned for my personal safety. I look forward to spending eternity in a much better place. I do, however, fear for the safety of my children.

Priorities: People working at poorly paid jobs do not have the same choices to stay at home. I suppose poor people should just take up celibacy?

Joseph Farah: I assume you are talking about schooling. No, I think poor people have as much responsibility for educating their children as anyone else. You might have noticed the recent Washington Post story about poor black parents in Washington choosing homeschooling as their solution. They are making the right choice. They find themselves in the worst schools in America and they recognize the government is not helping them.

Piscataway, .J.: Welcome Mr. Farah,
How much influence does God and religion play in your life?

Joseph Farah: No. 1

Atlanta, Ga.: In your list of evils to be avoided in the process of your 12-step plan, you make no substantive mention of alcohol or drugs. Both have a continuing serious impact on America. Can the revolution be effected by drunkards and addicts, too?

Joseph Farah: No, anyone who is a drunkard or a drug user is not capable of self-government. But, likewise, ill-informed and immoral people are not either.

Los Angeles, Calif.: In your book, you call on Americans to embrace God and biblical morality. How can you do this when you also have borne false witness against President Clinton with absurd charges of murdering dozens of people?

Note: Farah's embrace of the "Clinton Body Count" urban legend can be found here.

Joseph Farah: Can you cite one place where I have ever accused President Clinton of murdering anyone?

Goldsboro, N.C.: In your book, "Taking America Back" how much emphasis do you place upon revival and upon the clear preaching of the Gospel of Jesus Christ as the means by which this country will once again assume it's role as a leader among nations and as a light to the world?

Joseph Farah: It's the No. 1 prescription. The very first step in my program to take America back is to get down on our knees and ask God for revival and renewal in our lives.

Washington, D.C.: I've never heard of you; however, you might have just sold a book. Are you pleased?

Joseph Farah: Yes.

Arlington, Va.: The opening paragraph of this chat outlining your "strategy" is a description of a cult. Hands down. You'd like to force-feed religion to Americans who have chosen to live their lives differently? Shame on you. You're insane.

Joseph Farah: I don't want to force-feed anyone anything. I'm calling on people who think like I do to act responsibly and make good judgments. I'm not asking anything of anyone who disagrees. Nor am I forcing them to do anything.

Washington, D.C.: What is making the U.S. a "moral wasteland"?

Joseph Farah: The popular culture, a government that removes our sense of self-reliance and responsibility... dependence, rather than independence...

Maryland: Somehow, your views put me in mind of "The Handmaid's Tale."

You seem to have little room in "your" America for people with whom you disagree.

Joseph Farah: This book is not meant to persuade those who disagree with me. It is a blueprint for action for those who do.

Tariffs to raise money?: tariffs to raise money? You seem to forget that we are bound by economic treaties. And if we break these treaties then with whom will we trade "legally"? You are trying to fit twin sized sheets on a king sized bed.

Joseph Farah: Those treaties are wrong. We have entered into global bodies which are entirely unaccountable to the people of the United States. This is supposed to be a government for the people, of the people and by the people.

Constitutional requirements?: The Constitution was written two and a half centuries ago, in a world that was only beginning to experience the industrial revolution. Trying to freeze society to fit Washington's day is just silly.

Joseph Farah: Then pack up and find yourself a different country. Because the Constitution is the rule of the land here.

Be'er Sheva, Israel : How is possible that 45 percent of Brits consider president Bush to be as dangerous to world peace as Saddam Hussein? And why is it so difficult to realize that after 9/11 we have been living in a perpetual Cuban Missile Crisis with no end date in sight?

Joseph Farah: Americans need to remember that we live in a sovereign nation. We are not accountable to the United Nations or anyone else for our national security interests. Israel would do well to remember that too -- for its own good. Both countries need to be more self-reliant.

Alexandria, Va.: Have you considered running for president? I am a Christian and my beliefs are similar to yours.

Joseph Farah: Never.

Washington, D.C.: Who are you taking America back from? Who in your view "stole" it? (I'm not being flip -- just wondering if it's meant to be serious -- or just a catchy title)

Joseph Farah: The No. 1 problem is unaccountable government. We have lost the concept of self-government in this country. That's what this book is all about.

Mt. Rainier, Md.: It seems from the precis of your position on this site that what you want to take America back to is the Stone Age. Let's see; we can try to divorce ourselves from the rest of the world and pretend there is nothing out there. We can be ruled by whoever has the most fire-power. And we can be dominated those people who are sure they know what God wants. This doesn't sound like a society most people would want to live in. Though great of course for fanatics with lots of fire-power (bin Laden, anyone?)

Joseph Farah: Your comments are too incoherent and vague to warrant an intelligent reply.

Northern Virginia: I admit to not having read your book so I am very hesitant to comment without having made an informed decision; however, I can only say, "Yikes" to what I read in the intro. Isn't your model a bit far fetched and unrealistic? I doubt that social justice has a role in your theory. Do the helpless just fade away and out of sight? Many Americans and churches are blind to the true problems outside their little world and may not offer as much help as you think. For example, it is truly amazing that a homeless person can freeze to death on the steps of a church in D.C., yet it happened! In general, what was the basis for your rationale?

Joseph Farah: Helpless people are the responsibility of families first, churches and synagogues second, communities third, states fourth. The federal government's responsibility is to protect the lives and property of citizens. That's what the Constitution says. I'm sorry if you don't like it. That is reality. I am as compassionate as you are. But I don't consider it compassionate to steal other people's money and give it to the less fortunate.

Washington, D.C.: Your take on immigration? Do you believe we should seal our borders?

Joseph Farah: Tight shut.

Gullsgate Minn.: Joseph Farah: Which god are you suggesting this nation embrace? (We have so "many gods before us", as they say?) And if religion becomes incestuously bundled together; in bed with the state -- religio-totalitarianism will be the result. We've been there, done that in Europe. That's why our immigrant forefathers,(foremothers, also) left -- to escape such insidious political powerplays, as assuredly will be indoctrinated by a government embedded with "a god," regardless all the diversity of theologies or non theo-philosophies -- which every citizen in a democratic nation, has the right to choose?

Joseph Farah: There is only one God.