New York Times columnist Bret Stephens on Free Speech and the Necessity of Discomfort

New York Times columnist Bret Stephens calls disagreement “the most vital ingredient of any decent society.” Being able to reasonably take issue with an asserted stance or belief, he argues, enlarges our perspectives and energizes our progress. Shutting down disagreeable speech does more to imperil our principles than uphold them. Yet in this era of coarse polarization, the art of thoughtful disagreement has given way to hostile close-mindedness. And tolerance is often misinterpreted as the absence of discomfort.