I am not a supporter of Al Qaewda, and I think Muslim extremists are every bit as bad and occasionally worse than Christian extremists. The real Christian extremists one could compare with the Taliban belong to a past era. I would say Girolamo Savanarola, with his regular "Bonfire of the Vanities" was clearly of a Taliban mindset, and rather than behead people, which is barbaric and quick, he preferred to burn them alive, which is barbaric and excruciatingly slow. As I understand it, if you confessed your sins before they set you on fire, they would strangle you first. Or at least that was the policy of the Santo Oficio (the Holy Office) during the time of Torquemada.
The Inquisition was the equivalent of the Taliban. But they only had to deal with heretical books and singers of heretical songs, like the Goliards. The Taliban has to deal with American Idol contestants in hotpants and reruns of Baywatch, complete with jug jiggling, and Rap videos. I think that an hour flipping through the channels on satellite TV could have cause Torquemada to have been won over by Satan himself.
I disagree that it is easy to get rid of technology. The Shah had an extensive police state, and Savak was very efficient, but He was unable to keep out the Ayatollahs' cassette tapes and video tapes. The Soviets could not progress without computers and could not maintain their control with computers, and finally had to give up.
You can only temporarily ban technology, and mostly all your banning does is make it even more desirable.
The Taliban and Al Qaeda are doomed. But so is our status quo. Nothing stays as it was. Everything changes, and change is coming faster and faster.
There will be more technology, it is relentless and unpreventable, and its effects are unknown until it is thoroughly entrenched.
