Jove Jim Aguas

The secular ideals have impacted on the many aspects of our modern human life but the challenge of secularization is very much felt in the realm of religion especially in Christianity. We can observe that the more society modernizes the level of its religiosity lessens. With the dominance of science, politics and economics in rational discourses and the relevance of technology, the ideology of globalization and the attitude of consumerism and materialism, religious beliefs, practices, values and institutions are losing their relevance to human life and society. Societies whose religious values are historically embedded in their social institutions are continuously moving away from their religious roots towards a nonreligious orientation. In this paper I focus on the challenge of secularization and secularism to religion specifically to the Christian belief in God. First, I show that although secularization is a recent phenomenon its philosophical roots can be traced back to the modern times where some Renaissance and Enlightenment thinkers challenged the theocentric discourse of medieval thinkers. This set the stage for secularism as a counter discourse to the medieval belief in God. Second, that out of this modern thinking about God emerged two distinct attitudes towards the question of God – the attitude of the philosophers who although did not totally dismiss the notion of God reduce God to a mere idea or a product of human imagination, and on the other hand the attitude of the believers who continue to believe in the living God. Third, that although one can argue against the position of the non-believing philosophers and counter the position of secularism one appropriate response is self-criticism, that is, for the believers to take a hard look on themselves and see if God and religion are still relevant in their personal and social affairs.

In this paper, I will focus on the nature and appropriation of political power, and explore the right appropriation of political power given the present political and social condition. I discuss first the nature of political power, and then the three political alternatives in the appropriation of political power, namely, the centralized, the dispersed, and the balanced power. I argue that although there are still states that hold on to the centralized power, given the present political and social condition, the balanced appropriation of political power is the best alternative.

This paper discusses the philosophical concept of John Rawls on distributive justice and how it can be applied as a possible guide in the Philippine ayuda distribution during the COVID-19 pandemic. First, it discusses how the pandemic affected the Philippine economy and the complaints on the ayuda program regarding the ayuda distribution in the country. Second, it explains Rawlsian distributive justice and Rawls’ ideas, such as the veil of ignorance, liberty, and difference principles. Lastly, it discusses Rawls’ notion of distributive justice as a guide in the ayuda distribution to provide a perspective on the equitable and just distribution of benefits given the limited resources. The main point is that the distribution of financial assistance or ayuda can be guided by Rawls’s notion of distributive justice, which prioritizes the well-being of the least well-off or disadvantaged.

One of the noblest of all professions is teaching, in fact all the other professions depend on the profession of teaching. Teaching is a channel of knowledge and the teacher acts as an instrumental cause in the acquisition of knowledge of others. At the center of the learning process and teaching profession is not the teacher, but the student – the human person to whom teacher concentrates his entire energy and effort, the reason and end of the learning process. The teacher however is an indispensable agent in the formation of the lives and careers of his students; he helps in cultivating the natural talents and abilities of his students. He plays a critical role in the molding of one’s character and personality. He guides and creates a learning atmosphere for the students to develop their own potentials and talents. The dialogical relation between the student and the teacher is anchored on certain elements: namely, the trusting reciprocation between the student and teacher; the exemplary integrity of the teacher; his concern for the personal well-being of the student and his confirmation of the student’s potentiality for self-fulfillment and personhood. Teaching as a dialogue, provides an opportunity for continual learning and growth.

This paper deals with atheism, Sartre's notion of absolute freedom and Jean-Paul Sartre's claim of the irreconcilability of human freedom with God’s existence. For Sartre, man to be truly human must continuously create his own essence and continuously assert himself. Man can achieve this because he is absolutely free; the affirmation of God would undermine the exigencies of man's freedom and creativity. The question on the impossibility of the coexistence between the affirmation of God's existence and the recognition of human freedom raises certain points against Sartre's notion of God and human freedom. The paper urges the believer to fully understand his beliefs and be also critical of his faith