Leading evangelical halts effort to increase political civility

At a moment when many Americans are decrying the overheated tone of American politics, an influential evangelical voice said Tuesday he is folding a project he helped found to increase political civility.

Mark DeMoss said he is halting the initiative, called the Civility Project, due to lack of interest.

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I found the article disheartening. After pouring years of his sweat and blood into the project, DeMoss got only 3 persons to sign the pledge, which reads:

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

Damn, what's so hard about that? We are all adults here, aren't we? Or maybe not. Maybe Congress has become full of babies, who scream and throw tantrums when they don't get their own way. Signing the pledge should have been a no-brainer for any thinking, mature adult, but not only were people not signing it, they were also personally attacking DeMoss in some pretty nasty ways, with some very harsh comments on his web site.

“Many of them could not be printed or spoken in public media due to vulgar language and vicious personal attacks,” the letter continued. “Sadly, a majority of these came from fellow conservatives.”

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What I would like to know is this - What in the hell happened to the Conservatism of Ronald Reagan, William F. Buckley, and other thinkers on the right? Being able to foam at the mouth is not Conservatism, nor does it lend itself to getting one's point across. And PULEEZE, don't tell me that the Democrats do it, so that makes it alright. If a Democrats told you to stick your head in a barrel of feces, would you do it? Whether or not Democrats are engaging in the same kind of rhetoric is beside the point. The Conservatism I grew up with stands for not only freedom, but RESPONSIBILITY, and it seems today that some on the right want to have their cake and eat it too - Freedom to scream without the reponsibility to accept the consequences of that screaming.

As far as the Arizona shooting goes, I do not subscribe to the notion that the heated rhetoric over the last few years contributed to it, but I will say this - When you have two sides in Congress flinging brickbats at each other instead of conducting the nation's business, then we have a problem. To each and every member of Congress, Democrat and Republican alike, let me just say this....

Children, behave! The 3 Stooges you are not, so quit acting like them. NYUK NYUK!!

Article is here.

Why didn't he just say, "I will act like a sweet little church lady at all times?"

There is nothing wrong with spirited debate. And who is to say what is or is not civil?

Politics is mean, bloody and nasty, people need to get use to it.

chevydriver1123 said:

Politics is mean, bloody and nasty, people need to get use to it.

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No, they don't. That's like accepting that things will suck without trying to do something about it. It is completely appropriate to attempt to change the political environment. Folks need to get used the fact that there will those who will want to change it.

CaptainCourtesy said:

No, they don't. That's like accepting that things will suck without trying to do something about it.It is completely appropriate to attempt to change the political environment. Folks need to get used the fact that there will those who will want to change it.

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I never said that, I dont accept our political environment but the fact of the matter is that in the fight between liberty and statism people are going to be nasty. In said fight if you show weakness your enemy will exploit it until you cover it back up or give up.

chevydriver1123 said:

I never said that, I dont accept our political environment but the fact of the matter is that in the fight between liberty and statism people are going to be nasty. In said fight if you show weakness your enemy will exploit it until you cover it back up or give up.

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Why are 'being nasty' and 'showing weakness' seen as a dichotomy here?

In my experience, people resort to nastiness when their argument won't stand on it's own merits. It's less a dichotomy, more a synonym.

chevydriver1123 said:

I never said that, I dont accept our political environment but the fact of the matter is that in the fight between liberty and statism people are going to be nasty. In said fight if you show weakness your enemy will exploit it until you cover it back up or give up.

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Has nothing to do with being nasty... nastiness shows weakness.

chevydriver1123 said:

Politics is mean, bloody and nasty, people need to get use to it.

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No, I don't think we need to get used to it. Because the way things operate now are not good for the continued growth and prosperity of the Republic on a whole. We can't gauge what politicians will do, what they want, what they are going to try to do when all we get is "X is better than Y" all the time.

chevydriver1123 said:

Politics is mean, bloody and nasty, people need to get use to it.

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We are going to have increasing deficits each year, people just need to get used to it.

See how stupid that sounds?

iangb said:

Why are 'being nasty' and 'showing weakness' seen as a dichotomy here? In my experience, people resort to nastiness when their argument won't stand on it's own merits. It's less a dichotomy, more a synonym.

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Many a brilliant thinker and debater have been impaled on the end of an unthinking solider's blade. Weakness is as relative as nastiness.

It's like putting a child in a sterile medical bubble half their life, and claiming it strengthened them, when in reality their immune system is now permanently stunted.

Redress said:

We are going to have increasing deficits each year, people just need to get used to it.

See how stupid that sounds?

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Government is just going to get bigger each year, people just need to get used to it!
There's going to be more and more arsenic in your drinking water each year, people just need to get used to it!

I like this game.