We have all seen and experienced the intense polarization in today’s society. It is everywhere around us. People seem less and less able to communicate with those on the other end of the political spectrum.

Our disagreements go deep, and it is easy to lose patience with others. We can get angry quickly and find ourselves getting defensive in conversations … in person or online. I have lost friends over the last couple of years, and you may have as well. What can we do to make things better?It’s not hard to think of examples of the kind of speech that contributes to polarization.

If we look at the right end of the political spectrum, we encounter words like woke, DEI or anti-American. People who use these words have something in mind, but it isn’t clear what that is. What is woke? It seems to be nothing more than a catch-all phrase for anything someone on the right despises. And DEI? Same thing. What does it mean for someone to be anti-American? Is someone anti-American if he or she condemns the president or takes a knee during the national anthem? Isn’t freedom of speech a constitutional........

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