I, Frank Joseph Peter, being of sound body, mind, and spirit hereby declare the following…
… with unapologetic conviction and with the commitment to live each day as if all I declare here is true.
Freedom
I am entitled to do as I please as long as it does not infringe upon the freedom of others to do as they please… and vice versa.
Responsibility
Freedom is meaningful only to the degree that it includes an equal measure of responsibility.
Education
Curiosity and diversity, not obedience and conformity, are the lifeblood of all scientific and moral progress.
The accumulated knowledge of the world belongs to everyone, not just to those with privileged access.
The goal of education should be to create more contributors and leaders, not more consumers and followers.
Science
I put my trust in SCIENCE–not just as a living body of knowledge, but as a sincere, rigorous, and self-correcting process dedicated to discovering how the universe works–and with one honorable goal in mind: the well-being of all living creatures.
Knowledge & Wisdom
Obedience to authority is the least reliable way to know the truth. Experience is the most reliable way to know the truth.
The truth can never be known… and real problems can never be solved… from a safe, “objective” distance. Truths are many… and can be found only in the real-life stories of flesh and blood human beings.
Peace & Justice
Human rights matter, but so do human responsibilities.
Those of us who fare better in the lottery of life have a natural responsibility towards those not so fortunate.
Opposition
I reject all dogmatic systems of thought and morality.
I reject any ideology or enterprise that rules by fear and censorship.
I reject all appeals to “authority”, “tradition”, “divine command”, and “patriotism” to legitimize any body of knowledge, truth, or ethics.
I reject superstition and authoritarianism in all forms: religious, political, cultural, and economic.
I reject all divisive forms of human categorization and organization by tribe, race, sex, gender, religion, ethnicity, and nationality.
I reject the indoctrination of trusting, innocent, defenseless children into the ideologies of their elders.
Courage
Meekness is not a virtue. All material and moral progress is achieved only by challenging, not by tolerating, the insupportable ideas, beliefs, and behaviors of others.
Sometimes courage means being a warrior. Sometimes courage means being a peacemaker.
When the answer is yes, never accept no for an answer.
Integrity
Character counts.
Community
I stand for cultural diversity & moral unity, free association & free expression, and human rights & justice for all, not just for some.
Individual excellence and collective effort both matter.
We need more autonomy and more community and should foster social institutions that celebrate and cultivate the complementary merits of both.
Faith
It is unethical and irresponsible to believe anything without sufficient evidence or reasoned moral justification.
I have profound reverence for freedom, responsibility, autonomy, community, curiosity, honesty, reason, beauty, gratitude, integrity, creativity, friendship, adventure, skepticism, humility, opportunity, generosity, fair play, enjoyment, thrift, understanding, spontaneity, affection, diversity, equity, inclusion, informed consent, knowledge-sharing, empathy, justice, compassion, courage, and love–each and every one capable of standing on its own merits without belief in the unbelievable–and without sanction from any “authority”, earthly or divine.
Humanism
Human destiny is something that we—and only we—have the power and responsibility to influence with our own minds, hearts, and hands—impassioned by empathy and informed by science.
The embrace of secular humanist values is the only path to sustainable peace and justice everywhere—values that are universal, timeless, natural, and self-evident.
Success
The best way to be somebody is to matter to somebody else.
Mortality
Live your life like this life is the only one you’ve got. Because this life probably is the only one you’ve got.
Two Commandments
Love yourself; love others.
What higher precept does anyone need to guide them?
Thanks for following my blog, Frank 🙂
Likewise, Rosaliene. And thank you for being an uncommon voice of compassion.
Wise words.
Heartened by the resonance and your presence here, Chris. Thanks for staying connected. Cheers!
Meekness is not a virtue. All material and moral progress is achieved only by challenging, not by tolerating, the insupportable ideas, beliefs, and behaviors of others.
This is especially important to recognize in our present-day Christianized culture. “Turn the other cheek” and “resist not evil” are a recipe for suicide or enslavement.
Sometimes courage means being a warrior. Sometimes courage means being a peacemaker.
I wish the mindless, knee-jerk pacifists would recognize this. It is amazing how they dodge and evade when asked what they would do if they were under attack by a brutal, merciless invader, as the Ukrainians are. They sit safe in some Western city (safe because that city has huge armies and nuclear arsenals protecting it) and radiate smug moral superiority while refusing to address the problems of the messy real world.
Your resonance is heartening, Infidel. I suspect that those who flaunt their moral superiority would be the first to bail once their supposed virtues were put to the test.
Dude, you’ve got a MANIFESTO. Well done.
Thanks for that recognition and the celebration, brother. Only took me 62.7 years to be worthy of writing it!
Frank, I’m essentially in accordance with all you’ve written, but I hope you can clarify something that troubles me: how can we as individuals accept the tenets of science without accepting the authority of the scientists? If experience is the only way to reach truth, I find myself blocked from a whole lot of things beyond my ken. Though I certainly appreciate your suspicion of authority, I think one of the problems today is not authority per se, but the background and experience of the authority figures and the unwillingness to question. What am I missing?
Thanks so much for seeking clarification, Annie.
You’ve inspired me to take a fresh look at what I’ve written so that my affirmation is clear.
To be clear, I have almost absolute trust in science–as I said “not just as a living body of knowledge, but as a sincere, rigorous, and self-correcting process”. Key word: Process.
That said, I am not suspicious of bona fide scientists in the least. The primary reason is that science-real science-does not adopt laws based on authority. Alas, pseudo-science does. Thus the proliferation of pseudo-science “authorities”. Anti-maskers and anti-vaxxers come immediately to mind.
It’s also important for non-scientists to understand that science (a process) does not adopt laws into the canon by voting. Science is NOT democratic. Laws are adopted by allowing the evidence and mathematical rigor to speak for themselves. Experts who deeply understand multiple domains are essential to the integrity of this process, of course. But Newton’s laws of motion were not adopted because Isaac Newton said so. Newton’s laws of motion were adopted into the canon because the math works every time and everywhere— keeping bridges intact and airplanes in the air.
You can read more about the methods and virtues of science here…
https://frankjpeter.com/ode-to-science/
with special attention to sections 5, 6, and 10.
My sincere gratitude for your always meaningful engagement, Annie. All the best!
Science doesn’t really have authority in the sense that religions and ideologies do. There is no chief scientist who has the authority to dictate what the scientific position on a question is, the way the pope issues pronouncements or an ayatollah issues a fatwa. There is no sacred text or ancient figure with the kind of definitive final authority that the words of Jesus have in Christianity or the Koran has in Islam. Only the evidence matters.
Modern science recognizes, for example, that Darwin got some of the details of evolution wrong and that there were a lot of things he simply didn’t know because so many critical factors, such as the workings of DNA, hadn’t been discovered in his time. It recognizes that Newton’s laws are incomplete and require the refinements of relativity and quantum mechanics — and that more such refinements may well be discovered in the future. No real scientist would ever say “Newton said X and that settles it for all time.” It’s the process of testing hypotheses against evidence, not any specific belief or person, that defines science.
I accept science as the only valid way of understanding the world, without treating individual scientists as authority figures. You can find a (very) few climatologists who reject anthropogenic global warming, and even fewer biologists who reject evolution, but that doesn’t mean they should be taken as authorities. The evidence, and the consensus of qualified scientific opinion, are the best guide to the current (never final) state of human knowledge.
Thanks for adding your thoughts, Infidel. We are firmly on the same page.
Frank, I was thinking in much more granular, pragmatic terms. In July, I wrote about Dr Peter Hotez, an extraordinary individual—pediatric virologist at Baylor, one of the developers of a non-proprietary Covid vaccine that’s given in poorer nations. He has been under fire for speaking out against vaccine nihilists such as RFK Jr. I felt so troubled by these attacks that I sent him a link to my post, which he placed on social media with gracious thanks. He has also recently published a book, The Deadly Rise of Anti-Science, that I intend to read.
I guess I’m thinking in today’s environment, sometimes it’s difficult to talk about the science without the scientists because there are such dangerous differences between true authority and those who seek to undermine it.
Doctor Hotez is clearly a bona fide scientist, worthy of respect and trust. RFK Jr and his ilk are not scientists and clearly have an unscientific agenda, to put it diplomatically.
Alas, scientific illiteracy is rampant in the USA–a fundamental failure to educate. The reason for this failure is no secret: A mind trained in the methods of science is inoculated from accepting falsehoods–and is therefore a major threat to the status quo and powers that be.
The solution is clear, as I forcefully stated in articles 23-27 in my Ode to Science:
https://frankjpeter.com/ode-to-science/
Key excerpts…
“a basic understanding of how your own brain works–especially how easily it can be manipulated—is the bedrock of an educated mind… with profound practical implications in the fields of education, economics, medicine, government, and justice.”
“a mind trained in the methods and disciplines of science is a mind inoculated from accepting so many myths, superstitions, and outright lies that divide us from each other—such as racism, sexism, partisanship, nationalism, and religiosity.”
“And so, it’s time that scientific literacy becomes a moral imperative for everyone, not just for scientists…”
“Global health, safety, peace, and justice depend upon it.”
I share your concern, Annie. I taught science and more in Albuquerque Public Schools for years. Neither the left nor the right likes to hear that the first lesson Mister Peter teaches their kids is that they should never accept anything anyone tells them (Mister Peter included) without putting it to the tests of love and logic for themselves.
I like those excerpts, Frank. I heartily concur!
Thank you, Annie, as always, for being a passionate voice of reason and decency.
Et vous, Frank. FYI: Though I’m not scientifically trained, I spent many years as a medical writer and editor, as you can see if you care to check my bio.
Beautiful! How different the world would be if more people ascribed to these affirmations!
Thanks for the words of appreciation and resonance, anonymous friend of the world!
Your redefinition of success is especially appreciated, Frank. Thanks.
Thanks for the words of appreciation, Gerald. So utterly simple, yes? And freely available to each and every one of us. Peace.
Don’t mind at all! I’m only sorry I’d got into another mess that you ended up having to sort out! It’s brought a smile to my face too. Thanks so much for all.
No worries, Kath. It’s always nice to reconnect!
Wow, Frank … what an awesome post covering all the bases. You and I are much alike in our thinking, I believe. Thanks for sharing your innermost thoughts, my friend. The world could be such a better place if more people embraced these values.
No doubt we’re on the same page, Jill. Doing what we can to cut through the division and insanity of it all. Thanks & Peace.
Thanks Frank. Love reading your posts. This is an awe-inspiring affirmation so full of thought, fairness and responsibility. It shows how achievable leading a good and fulfilling life is WITHOUT any need for authority or creed. It’s down to individual decisions and actions.
Amen, Kath! Your existence and resonance are deeply heartening. We need billions more friends of the world such as you.
Your IT skills are also an inspiration to me!
You made me smile out loud, Kath. I should have known this was you! I hope you don’t mind me tidying up this thread to reflect that. As always, your most thoughtful comments are deeply appreciated. Cheers!