HON 201 Sarah Barnett by https://padlet.com/sbarnett101/42ixupug92g57u1b This Padlet will record how modern and postmodern thought have influenced many things around us! en-us 2022-09-10 21:49:38 UTC 2026-01-25 03:19:08 UTC hello@padlet.com https://padlet.net/icons/png/1f337.png Existentialism in Forrest Gump sbarnett101 https://padlet.com/sbarnett101/42ixupug92g57u1b/wish/2290872462 Forrest Gump is a very well known movie that came out in 1994 and has been nominated for 13 Academy Awards and won six Oscars. Tom Hanks stars as Forrest, who, despite the many adversities he faces, is able to overcome these disadvantages and is able to play college football on scholarship, win medals of honor fighting in Vietnam, become a millionaire, and marry the girl of his dreams. Forrest's mother, drawing from the principles of existentialism, ensures Forrest that his circumstances do not define him and he is the one who creates his own identity. As Forrest famously says, "life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get;" each person is born into a different circumstance and has the power to define who he/she is. Unlike Jean-Paul Sartre's atheistic existentialism, Forrest and his mother share a Christian existentialist perspective. Forrest's mother tells him "you’ve got to do the best with what God gave you." God is sovereign over each person's circumstances, but the individual has the ability and responsibility to create his/her destiny. 


]]> 2022-09-10 22:32:09 UTC https://padlet.com/sbarnett101/42ixupug92g57u1b/wish/2290872462 Is the Secularization of Society a Good Thing for the Church? sbarnett101 https://padlet.com/sbarnett101/42ixupug92g57u1b/wish/2311864056 Secularism is the shift in society away from mainstream Christian culture. The lack of religious influence in society is evidenced by how religion is no longer taught in public schools and the decline in professing Christians. Though it may appear that the Church is losing its reach in society, secularism might actually be beneficial for the Church's spiritual health. In a secular society, Christianity is not assumed to be an individual's default religion. It is less likely for people to claim to be Christian when the gospel has no real impact on their hearts or lives. Was "Christian society" of "Christendom"  actually Christian or was it really just a society that celebrated Christian moral values? Rather than seeing secularism as a threat to Christian society, Christians should embrace the opportunity "to demonstrate what being Christian is about in ways not defined by the tradition of Christendom, which for various reasons has contributed to society’s dislike of the church." Christianity should not be a part of someone's culture or a tradition that they follow; it is a deeply meaningful faith that is lifestyle-altering and perspective-changing. Do you believe that secularism is a good thing for the Church? What are some ways that secularism has negatively impacted the Church? What are some ways that the Church can change how it reaches out to society in an increasingly secularized society? ]]> 2022-09-24 22:17:51 UTC https://padlet.com/sbarnett101/42ixupug92g57u1b/wish/2311864056 "Communist-Capitalism" in China sbarnett101 https://padlet.com/sbarnett101/42ixupug92g57u1b/wish/2332191015 This article explores the economic foundations of China and how it has changed and continues to change. The first leader of Communist China, Mao Zedong, wanted to establish a completely Communist nation founded on the principles of Marxism of "agricultural collectivisation and nationalised industrialisation." Unfortunately, under Mao millions of Chinese people lived in poverty. Mao's successor, Deng Xiaoping implemented a lot of reforms that helped lift "800 million people'' out of poverty. These reforms implemented policies that were Capitalistic, encouraging the sale of surplus crops for profit and forign trade and investment. Deng created a Chinese economic policy that was more "Communist-Capitalist" than purely Communist. The current leader of China Xi Jinping, unlike Deng, wants to return China's economic policies to how they were under Mao, adhering to more traditional Marxist ideology. 
Do you think that Communist-Capitalism is possible? Is Communist-Capitalism a beneficial economic system? Would a purely Communist economic system be effective in preventing poverty and establishing stability? What about a purely Capitalist economic system? 
]]> 2022-10-08 23:42:36 UTC https://padlet.com/sbarnett101/42ixupug92g57u1b/wish/2332191015 What is music? sbarnett101 https://padlet.com/sbarnett101/42ixupug92g57u1b/wish/2361775115 In this video, John Cage, an experimental musician, performs a piece of music called "Water Walk." Cage is a composer and music theorist that is known for his extremely unconventional pieces of music. His most famous piece, "4:33," is four minutes and thirty-three seconds of a musician sitting at a piano without playing anything. In "Water Walk" Cage uses various household objects to produce sounds at calculated times. Although this piece sounds like random noises, every element of the music was specifically planned out. In the original piece Cage was supposed to turn on the radios, but the television station would not allow the radios to be plugged in because of a union dispute; because of this, Cage hit the radios and pushed them off the table instead. Cage challenges the traditional expectations and definitions of music and emphasizes through his pieces that music does not have to conform to the traditional ideals of what music should be. 
Does Cage's use of experimental music techniques demonstrate a postmodern way of thinking? If so, how? 
How did the audience in the video react to Cage's music? Do you think this is similar to how some people react to postmodern ideologies?
Should there be a set standard or definition for what music is or can music be anything? ]]> 2022-10-29 23:52:15 UTC https://padlet.com/sbarnett101/42ixupug92g57u1b/wish/2361775115 sbarnett101 https://padlet.com/sbarnett101/42ixupug92g57u1b/wish/2380466345 In the past, we have witnessed the shift away from unquestioned belief in Christian doctrine and morality because of the secularization of Western culture. Even in an increasingly secular modern society, however, there was still a relatively prominent divide between a secular atheist worldview and a Christian worldview. With the rise of postmodernism, forming a worldview has become more about conforming one's beliefs to the accepted beliefs of the culture than holding fast to traditional beliefs and doctrines. I have attached this study done by The State of Theology this year that surveyed Christians and non-Christians on their beliefs on core doctrines of Christianity. This study is very interesting while also, in my opinion, disheartening. If you click on the tab at the top that says Data Explorer you can see more survey questions and you can filter through the statistics by different variables. One of the statements that they had people agree or disagree with is "Religious belief is a matter of personal opinion; it is not about objective truth." Shockingly, out of the professing Christians surveyed, 60% agreed with this statement. Because of the influence of postmodernism, faith is no longer what one believes is absolutely true, but rather what one wants to believe or think. While 62% of Christians agreed that "The Bible is the highest authority for what I believe," this belief is not evident in many of the other answers. When given the statement "God accepts the worship of all religions, including Christianity, Judaism, and Islam," 67% of Christians agreed that one does not actually have to be a Christian to worship God. 53% of Christians surveyed agree that "Jesus was a great teacher, but he was not God." Although Ephesians 2:3 clearly states that we "were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind" 70% of Christians surveyed believe that "everyone is born innocent in the eyes of God." The results of this survey demonstrate the impact that postmodern thought has had on Christianity. 
What are your thoughts on this survey? 
How do you think that postmodern thought has influenced Christian beliefs? 
Is it okay to deviate from Christian doctrines that are outlined in Scripture? 
What other factors could have influenced the results of this survey? 

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