We think that our core values, once understood, are universally appealing. We see this reflected in the broad diversity of the backgrounds of those who come together because of these shared values. The essence of our founding principles has not changed from the founding of CESJ. But, as we discuss them together and with others, we will continue to refine and clarify our values by consensus.

The following are CESJ's core values:
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There is a Source of all creation and of all universal and absolute values such as Truth, Love and Justice, which represent the ultimate ends of human actions. Many people call this Source, God.
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Nothing should stand between God and the human person.
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There is a hierarchy of human work: The highest form of work is perfecting the social order to elevate each person in his or her relationship to God. The lowest but most urgent form of work is for sheer personal survival.
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In interacting with nature to promote one's own perfection, every person must respect the rest of creation. Each human being, a steward of nature, remains responsible for conserving natural forms of existence, each of which is interdependent and shares the same divine origin with humanity.
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Under the ultimate sovereignty of God, all sovereignty begins with the human person--not social institutions including the family, the State, organized religion, the business corporation, the labor union, or academia.
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The essential means to achieve the sovereignty of the person include such inalienable human rights as the right to life, liberty, and access to productive property and free markets, equality of opportunity, and the secret ballot. These rights--including the rights of property--are not ultimate ends in themselves, but they are intermediate ends or fundamental means to enable each person to pursue Truth, Love and Justice.
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People create tools, shaped from the resources and energies of nature, to support the economic and social sovereignty of the person. Through private property ownership, each person can become master of the technology needed to realize his or her fullest human potential and dignity.
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People also create and maintain social institutions as highly specialized "invisible tools" designed to serve highly specialized social functions within a just social order. Institutions, as organized expressions of society's values and goals, largely determine the quality of each person's individual and social life. As historical creations of humanity carrying within themselves the wounds of history, institutions are continually in need of healing and perfecting.
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The highest responsibility of each person is to pursue absolute values and to promote economic and social justice in his or her personal life and all associations with others.

*Amendments to the CESJ Core Values were approved and ratified unanimously by the CESJ Board of Directors and Board of Counselors on April 22, 2006.

These changes in the first, fifth and eighth core values have adhered to CESJ’s intent and policy of preserving the essence of our Core Values and Code of Ethics. The language that was added and modified by a consensus of the Board of Directors and Board of Counselors was intended to clarify our shared values and to improve the flow of the words.

At the heart of CESJ’s “Just Third Way” philosophy is the concept of the sovereignty of every human person. This recognizes that all rights and powers must start with each person, and that this sovereignty derives directly from an ultimate or transcendent source, rather than from other human beings or social institutions.

The change from the phrase “There is an Absolute Source of all creation” to “There is a Source of all creation” was introduced in order to avoid attaching limiting and incomplete descriptions to something ultimately beyond human comprehension. It retains, however, our shared belief in a universal origin of everything that exists, and thus of all “universal and absolute values such as Truth, Love and Justice.”

The most significant, and controversial, modifications to the Core Values were the inclusion of the words “the family” and “organized religion” in the fifth core value. CESJ recognizes that the family is a special, and the most basic, social institution. Organized religion also serves a unique and vital function within the social order. However, consistent with the founding values of CESJ, we believe that even these two essential institutions must always serve to support and enhance, and never block or undermine, the dignity and development of each human being within society and in his or her relationship to the Source of all creation.

Additional commentary by CESJ’s members and scholars will be added in the future. We also invite your thoughts on the wording of our Core Values.