The Williamsburg Charter is a document that was drafted in 1986 by several

Americans Americans are the citizens and nationals of the United States of America.; ; Although direct citizens and nationals make up the majority of Americans, many dual citizens, expatriates, and permanent residents could also legally claim Ame ...

, each a member of a prominent religious community and/or non-religious philosophy in the United States. The Charter was signed by 100 nationally prominent figures on June 22, 1988, in commemoration of the 200th anniversary of Virginia's call for a

Bill of Rights A bill of rights, sometimes called a declaration of rights or a charter of rights, is a list of the most important rights to the citizens of a country. The purpose is to protect those rights against infringement from public officials and pr ...

. Among the signers were Presidents Gerald Ford and

Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 76th governor of Georgia from 1 ...

; the late Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court

William Rehnquist William Hubbs Rehnquist ( ; October 1, 1924 – September 3, 2005) was an American attorney and jurist who served on the U.S. Supreme Court for 33 years, first as an associate justice from 1972 to 1986 and then as the 16th chief justice from ...

; the late activist

Coretta Scott King Coretta Scott King ( Scott; April 27, 1927 – January 30, 2006) was an American author, activist, and civil rights leader who was married to Martin Luther King Jr. from 1953 until his death. As an advocate for African-American equality, she ...

(wife of slain civil rights leader

Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister and activist, one of the most prominent leaders in the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968 ...

) and Focus on the Family founder

James Dobson James Clayton Dobson Jr. (born April 21, 1936) is an American evangelical Christian author, psychologist, and founder of Focus on the Family (FOTF), which he led from 1977 until 2010. In the 1980s he was ranked as one of the most influentia ...

. The lead drafter was

Os Guinness Ian Oswald Guinness (born September 30, 1941) is an English author and social critic now based in Fairfax County, Virginia; he has lived in the United States since 1984. Early life and education Born on 30 September 1941 in Hsiang Cheng, China, ...

. The document is an affirmation for a lively and reasoned debate on the role of

religion Religion is usually defined as a social- cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatural, ...

in the public life of the United States. Its primary focus is on the

Establishment Clause In United States law, the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, together with that Amendment's Free Exercise Clause, form the constitutional right of freedom of religion. The relevant constitutional text ...

and

Free Exercise Clause The Free Exercise Clause accompanies the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. The ''Establishment Clause'' and the ''Free Exercise Clause'' together read: Free exercise is the liberty of persons to re ...

, contained within the first amendment of the United States Constitution, and the goal of the writers is to "affirm both their cardinal assumptions and the reasons for their crucial national importance".THE 1988 WILLIAMSBURG CHARTER ON THE FIRST AMENDMENT
/ref> The writers believe that the problems surrounding the religion clauses can only be solved by first understanding the nature of the clauses. Among the points raised in the charter is that non-religious hostility towards religion is just as dangerous to a democracy as religious hostility towards non-religion or to other religions.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Williamsburg Charter, The Political charters United States documents 1988 in American politics 1986 documents 1986 in religion