THE ONLY STRATEGY THAT WORKS AGAINST WEAPONIZED LANGUAGE:
3. Shift the Conversation to Shared Moral Ground
Progressives still claim to value:
- fairness
- autonomy
- freedom of conscience
- diversity of thought
- basic dignity
So stand inside their stated principles:
“We both believe people should speak without fear. That’s the principle I’m defending.”
Radicals can’t reject their own values without revealing themselves. Normal people respond instantly to shared moral ground.
The People You Cannot Reach
Accept this early to avoid wasting energy. You cannot reason with:
- people whose politics function as religion
- purity activists
- Antifa-style street ideologues
- online radicals addicted to emotional escalation
- anyone who treats emotions as truth and words as ritual
These people aren’t debating. They’re policing. And they are not your audience.
Your audience is everyone watching, the people who still believe language has meaning, that disagreement isn’t violence, and that labels should not replace arguments. Be true to them, not your “debate” opponent.
QED:
🇮🇱Former Israeli hostage Omer Shem Tov set up a stand at UC Berkeley:
“I survived 505 days of Hamas captivity. Ask me anything” pic.twitter.com/SYMYW7umxd
— The Uri (@uricohenisrael) November 20, 2025