All Governors and Members of Congress Invited to Sign Civility Pledge

Responses to Pledge Will Be Recorded on CivilityProject.org

ATLANTA, June 1, 2010—As an epidemic of incivility continues to make headlines across the country, political leaders are now being asked to take a hard line.  A grassroots movement - led by an unlikely duo - is putting politicians and their opponents on record for their position on civility in hopes of encouraging a more civil tone in upcoming mid-term elections and into the 2012 election cycle. 

On May 27, founder of CivilityProject.org Mark DeMoss - a political conservative and evangelical Christian - and co-founder Lanny Davis - a political liberal of the Jewish faith - mailed a letter to every sitting governor and member of Congress asking for an on-the-record commitment to the Civility Pledge, a simple 32-word oath that reads: 

• I will be civil in my public discourse and behavior.
• I will be respectful of others whether or not I agree with them.
• I will stand against incivility when I see it.
  

The letter also encourages those running for re-election to send copies of the pledge commitment form to their opponents to sign. 

"Given the increasingly harsh tone of political America, we're challenging every governor and member of Congress, regardless of party, to lead by example and model civility," said DeMoss, founder of the CivilityProject.org.

A political odd couple of sorts, DeMoss and Davis launched CivilityProject.org in January 2009.  CivilityProject.org is a web-based movement promoting civility in public discourse - something that has been noticeably in short supply in the public square recently.  CivilityProject.org challenges all people, not just politicians, to bring back civility as a staple of American politics and life.

Results of the pledge mailing to governors, and members of Congress will be prominently displayed using an interactive U.S. map.  This user-friendly tool will allow constituents and others to track commitments of political leaders nationwide and enable them to challenge those who have not signed the pledge. 

"CivilityProject.org is not a ‘tolerance' campaign, a unity drive or call to surrender personal beliefs, convictions or ideology," said DeMoss. "It is a simple call to be civil in speech and behavior.  We hope that people from all walks of life, including political leaders, will heed this call for civility and realize that we can wage ideological and political battles with words and ideas, and not merely with decibels and disruptive antics."

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Quotes

Mark DeMoss, founder of CivilityProject.org

• "We've lost ability to win an argument, win a debate, on the strength of words and ideas, and now we judge them on the decibel count." (NBC News Dec. 29, 2009)  

• "I'd like to see us-on both sides of any issue-wage ideological battles with words and ideas, and not with volume and disruptive tactics and antics."  (NPR's Tell Me More Aug. 12, 2009)

• It used to be that when children didn't get their way, they would throw a temper tantrum.  Now we are seeing adults behaving the same way.  That seems to be a troubling trend: If we don't get our way, we resort to crazy behavior." (The Washington Times, Sept. 15, 2009)

• "To me, civility has value not just in public life, but it also has value in my marriage, in dealing with my children, in my relationship with my employees, even when driving in traffic."  (NPR's Tell Me More Aug. 12, 2009)

• "I'd like to see us replace vicious attacks with vigorous and civil debates on ideas that will expedite solutions and restore respectability to the public square."

Lanny Davis, co-founder of CivilityProject.org

• "If we really want change, we have to find a way to express ourselves civilly." (NBC News Dec. 29, 2009)

• "We both think some of the name calling and personal attacks are inappropriate and contrary to American values. We also decry the nasty tone and offensive decibel level of strident voices on the left and right that demonize those with whom they disagree. Whatever happened to winning debates on the strength of ideas?"(The Washington Times, Jan. 18, 2009)

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About CivilityProject.org

CivilityProject.org is a voluntary grassroots movement of people from diverse backgrounds who agree that, at this critical time in America's history, solutions to our most pressing problems will be found only through a more civil exchange of ideas.  A web-based organization, CivilityProject.org seeks to promote more civility in public discourse.  It is independent of any political party or organization and neither solicits nor accepts contributions. 

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Bios

Mark DeMoss is founder of the CivilityProject.org and is president of The DeMoss Group (DeMossGroup.com), an Atlanta-based a public relations firm he founded in 1991 specifically to serve faith-based organizations and causes.  He is author of The Little Red Book of Wisdom (2007).

Lanny Davis, co-founder of the CivilityProject.org, has been a champion of civility in politics in recent years, having written about it in his 2006 book, Scandal: How ‘Gotcha' Politics Is Destroying America (Palgrave Macmillian).  Davis was Special Counsel to President Bill Clinton from 1996-1998 and served three terms on the Democratic National Committee as a representative for the state of Maryland.  Earlier this year, Davis started a new law firm, Lanny J. Davis & Associates, LLC (www.LannyJDavis.com).

 

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