When you use hate to fight against hate are you not being what you say you despise? Are you not being hypocritical?
When you have people saying you are acting lower then the potential they think you are capable of (low life or any name we have all heard sometime in life) - are you?
Are you creating a limitation in your awareness because you yourself cannot open your own heart to receiving more ... outside your current awareness?
When we push our beliefs, our wants, our desires or our truths on another, that gives them the right to do the same. Why not? It's the same "right" for each side. The law of physics (Newton's Cradle) teaches us this.
It is a natural "animal" reaction to want to give back hate and intolerance with the same ... it's a base law of nature to want to do this for survival.
However, humans should, by now, be above all this. Shouldn't we? Have we not all evolved enough to be more humane and not react to that animal instinct within? Haven't we all grown up in our intellectual awareness to stop throwing temper fits?
Proving that you aren't a "child" and wanting to be treated like an "adult," one must practice what they preach or no one will listen. They may hear you but they won't HEAR you, because in their wisdom they will only see you as a child throwing said temper fit based on their awareness of things.
I was raised that when you want to walk and talk with adults you must present yourself as one too. This is not age restricted as we know there are children who act like adults and vice versa.
Tolerance must allow concessions to other's truth. We may not like it but it may allow a win win situation ... eventually ... if we truly believe in tolerance.
Next time you want to push your beliefs down someone's throat, ask yourself why you should not have the same.
You get what you give. Try putting yourself in their shoes. Their feelings are the same as yours because all reactions are based on love or fear. If it isn't love coming at you then what are they fearing?
See how that felt? What are they fearing? You have now allowed yourself an insight to another's character and the battle of wills is half won. The other half is resolving that fear with love.
It's up to you. Can you do it? Can you take on the challenge and not become what you hate? Can you resolve fear with love? Can you too learn tolerance?