“We parted in a warm, brotherly agreement about the ambrosial qualities of great down-home cooking, and I drove off shaking my head over people who could share so much around the table yet struggle so bitterly over other things.”

Some years ago, I participated in a frank and comradely exchange of views on the late unpleasantness with a nearby chapter of the Military Order of the Stars and Bars, the society for male descendants of Confederate military officers and government officials. Everything went smoothly. I don’t think anyone changed his mind that evening, but I do think we all came away with deeper respect for the strength of honest disagreements and our love for our native region.