ATLANTA /Christian News/ — From politics to pop culture, name calling and temper tantrums are making headlines. Can civil behavior ever be the norm again? One grassroots movement thinks so, and for those on all sides of the issue, is calling for a return to civility.

“It used to be that when children didn’t get their way, they would throw a temper tantrum,” said Mark DeMoss, an evangelical conservative who recently forged an unlikely partnership with outspoken liberal Lanny Davis to launch The Civility Project. In an interview in The Washington Times, DeMoss said, “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.”

An odd couple of sorts, DeMoss and long-time Clinton advisor Lanny Davis launched The Civility Project (CivilityProject.org) earlier this year. The Civility Project is a web-based movement that hopes to promote more civility in public discourse – something that has been noticeably absent in the public square recently.

“We’re not accomplishing anything by standing up and interrupting,” said DeMoss, an Atlanta public relations firm owner. “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.”