Tag Archives: Islam

Clashes, Sex, and Cognitive Dissonance

Posted on February 4, 2016 by Ryren Cadora

Later this month I’m giving two public presentations (one at a conference and one in a small, 10-person room) about a paper I’ve been working on for about six months (it gets moved around the burners depending on my workload). … Continue reading →

Posted in Political Science | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

A Quick Quote from a Research Project I’m Working On

Posted on October 25, 2015 by Ryren Cadora

One of the main projects I’m tasked with this semester is to empirically analyze Islam in contemporary Europe since March 11, 2004. To do this I’m using World Values Survey data. Doing this as someone who is biased against Islam is … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

The Islamic State Blows Up Sand: Time to Pull Out the Jokes

Posted on September 1, 2015 by Ryren Cadora

As many of you know, the Islamic State has resorted to destroying ancient architecture in Palmyra, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Apparently buildings that predate their prophet are offensive. So, in addition to murdering innocent civilians for not following the … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Sicarii, Assassins, and the Islamic State: A Pattern Emerges

Posted on August 6, 2015 by Ryren Cadora

Total holy war and suicide attacks are nothing new. History has kept a long list of organizations popping up, committing atrocities in the name of god, and then suffering absolute defeat—sometimes these campaigns are coupled with ironic consequences for the … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics | Tagged , , , , , | 6 Comments

An Open Letter to They Who Lost Today: Same-Sex Marriage and the US Supreme Court

Posted on June 26, 2015 by Ryren Cadora

Well, the inevitable has happened; the Supreme Court of the United States in a sharply divided decision ruled in Obergefell v. Hodges that same sex couples have an intrinsic right to marry, bringing an end to a decades-old debate. On one … Continue reading →

Posted in Atheism | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Female Self-Immolations in Afghanistan (SS#20)

Posted on June 21, 2015 by Ryren Cadora

Today’s post reflects on a rather dated perspectives article from the The New England Journal of Medicine, titled “Driven to a Fiery Death — The Tragedy of Self-Immolation in Afghanistan” (May 2008). This article was instrumental in helping me form … Continue reading →

Posted in Science Sundays | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Upcoming Research: Christians, Jews, Muslims, and Altruistic Suicide

Posted on June 17, 2015 by Ryren Cadora

It’s summer again, and I have a few short months to do independent research of my liking before getting into the deep again. In late August I’ll be starting a rather intensive Modeling and Simulations program at The Virginia Modeling, Analysis … Continue reading →

Posted in Self-Immolation | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Is-Ought Dilemma: And How a Young Suicide Bomber Learned Nothing

Posted on March 12, 2015 by Ryren Cadora

All we can talk about today is the reported suicide attack in Iraq by Australian teen and convert to Islam, Jake Bilardi. Jake defected from his home country and middle class Melbourne family to join the Islamic State (IS) with dreams … Continue reading →

Posted in Political Science | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

The Islamic State through Three Waltzian Lenses: An Analysis in IR Theory

Posted on February 18, 2015 by Ryren Cadora

In 1959 heavy-hitting, contemporary political scientist Kenneth Waltz published Man, the State, and War, a required reading for both undergraduate and graduate students in international politics. It’s often the fist book students of politics read because it gives them an … Continue reading →

Posted in Political Science | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

ISIS Shows Christians What True Persecution Is

Posted on February 16, 2015 by Ryren Cadora

ISIS is great at making terrible and extremely graphic and overproduced propaganda films. In the latest piece to cross my desk, an ISIS branch in Libya parades 21 Egyptian Coptic Christian men onto a beach in Northern Libya. The orange … Continue reading →

Posted in Atheism | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments