You would be surprised Slynky I guess.
But the biggest problem with taking the Talisman would be to avoid being declared the Mega Evil Empire because of it (and especially if you have quite a name; I would be adamant in killing a Religious Primitive as soon as possible. *Smirks*).
A single Empire can be repelled without too much trouble before the Talisman goes up I guess (you will need a few ships to get up and running against the Religious One after all, and the research that goes with it), but will the research go quickly enough to allow the Religious player to get this Talisman before major wars occur? And then, will this player be able to gather a fleet with good enough warships before time runs out? Having the Talisman on Destroyers wouldn't be too useful for example, since the Talisman is liable to be destroyed with the first blow.
But I am wandering, and shouldn't give such ideas to a prospective Religious player.
Now more on topic: would something such as sending directly the money via mail be allowed? It doesn't necessarily have to go directly to Geo, but could be sent to someone else in the States (I seem to recall it is legal for the daring there; is my memory faulty once more?). I know it is quite complicated, but I do not currently have access to a way of sending checks in dollars, along with other similar problems.