Core commitments
These “Core Commitments” attempt to state our position on a number of issues that we have studied over the years in our meetings. In this document they are stated boldly and briefly, but behind almost every simple statement there has been a lot of work and reflection over these intervening years.
A more detailed version is given under “Core Commitments explained.”
1. Humans have a special dignity, not shared by animals (or robots), and are ruled by morality and law.
2. We welcome any criterion for discerning what makes human life precious and unique. The belief that God became human flesh may be a strong one.
3. Humans are “incarnate spirits”, made in some way in the image of the “incarnate God”.
4. God created the universe, and used evolution to shape a clear difference between humans and non-human animals.
5. Knowledge primarily aims: 1) to understand the human person, 2) to seek the universal human good.
6. Each human has a personal identity which remains unchanged through life. Humans possess free-will.
7. Free will and conservation of personal identity are first in the logical order and prerequisites of science. Scientific knowledge is based on observation and non-contradictory reasoning.
8. Not all what matters for the physical phenomena is contained in the space-time. There is not an ultimate theory that can be formulated as a finite number of principles.
9. Human persons form communities ruled by law, and there are consequences of that for bioethics, economics, and sustainable development. Human universal morality goes beyond the evolved in-group morality of animals.
10. To promote human flourishing we need an approach to well-being and mental health based on the view that human beings are persons.