The Wahhabists gain traction where there are no other answers offered. It is an explanation of the source of and a solution to their less-than-satisfactory lives in the light of the evident prosperity of so much of the world; primarily the West.

How do they know that they are so miserable? Well; TV and movies for example. We export images of our culture… it’s an area where we do not suffer from a trade deficit.

Other than the fact that the Chinese unashamedly commit copyright violations on such a massive scale that it’s unbelievable. But that’s another story.

In any case, with no first-world work, no prospects, limited possibilities for education and becoming aware that their mud-hut conditions are completely unsatisfactory, they look for an answer.

A Wahhabist scholar is only too happy to oblige… and then clue them in to their “sacred commission” from God (Allah,) to take over the world in His name and convert the world to the One True religion.

Poof; Jiffy Pop Radical. Wahhabism is more mystical and less practical, adding to the propensity to bullshit one’s way through any serious discussion and make stuff up as one goes. Justifications are just too easy. Questions are easily bluffed off, other religions too easy to debunk.

It’s all someone else’s fault. It’s OUR fault that they live in a mud hut. We kept them down. If they can slay the dragon, they will not only be a hero, but lauded in paradise as well.

Progress will not entirely remove the problem of Muslims who seriously believe that they have a holy commission to conquer the earth in the name of Mohammad, but it will sure make a lot fewer people willing to listen.

We exacerbate this problem when our own well-meaning Christian churches want to send missionaries into Muslim countries.

Why? Because it is a Christian’s holy commission from God to convert the world to Christianity. While western Christians are no longer willing to do this by force, it has been done in the past.

My impression of Afghan society was that it is very medieval; biblical times mixed with the wild west, with a Mad Max tone about it. Literacy hovers around 18%.

Fertile, fertile ground for the seeds.