Not Tolerating Intolerance...Isn't That Also Intolerance?

No.

Oh, I should say more? Alright, I think I will!

One of the statements that one hears from time to time is that those who oppose some form of intolerance, or prejudice, are themselves intolerant. An example of one form of this position is that when people protest laws that discriminate against or fail to provide equal protection for a minority group. The protesters criticize those who marginalize their fellow citizens and are accused of being intolerant of those who believe that discrimination is okay or even of attempting to prevent them from exercising their First Amendment rights. Oftentimes the really intolerant ones use religion to justify their position that some of us should not have the same rights and protections as the rest of us, throwing back the accusation that those who protest should be tolerant of their (intolerant) beliefs. The First Amendment argument is equally illogical. Leaving aside for a moment that the First Amendment prohibits the government from limiting speech, there is nothing, anywhere, that gives people's opinions immunity from criticism. Offensive opinions should be criticized, even if they are wearing religious garb. Just because an opinion is based on some "holy" book, doesn't mean that it is protected from disagreement. If you want to hold the opinion that some find offensive, be prepared for people to disagree, verbally...out loud. An argument that some people who give their discrimination a religious veneer is that they should be allowed to discriminate against people who they disapprove of, for instance, a landlord who feels that his religious liberty is infringed upon by being forced to rent to homosexuals. Would that same landlord be alright with a landlord who discriminated against Christians? Or if the Defense of Marriage Act was written so that Christians were prohibited from marrying?

The difference, as I see it, is that when you are intolerant of other people, and advocate that their rights be proscribed, or suggest that the laws protecting every other citizen do not apply to them, that is bad intolerance. It is perfectly ethical to refuse to tolerate those who wish to limit the rights and privileges of others, that's good intolerance.

So...yes...but it's acceptable.