Let’s be honest: The Great American Yoga Pants Debate is more than a mere dust-up over workout wear. It is a microcosm of our most tendentious political debates. It is, in fact, a powerful metaphor for the many failures in our public discourse. Not everything, we must remember, is black and white.

Most importantly, we must not throw out the baby with the bathwater. Certainly, there is a small, radicalized subculture of yoga pants abusers in America. But to ban or condemn yoga pants based on a few bad apples would be a tragic mistake. You might as well try to ban baseball, miniskirts, roller coasters, the no-longer-endangered American Bald Eagle, fireworks, makeup, or fun.

I have no illusions. I know, deep down in my heart, that yoga pants haters will continue to hate. Go ahead. I see you. Remember that famous karate kick, the one that makes you look like a crane? The one Daniel LaRusso uses to defeat his cheating Cobra Kai rival in the first “Karate Kid” movie?

In my yoga pants, I can do that too. Easily. I’d just like to see you try it in jeans.