Intolerant Tolerant

I always considered myself a tolerant, in fact accepting, person. I don’t judge people (well I don’t think I do) by race, sex, sexual orientation, class, age or physical appearance. I would like to add religion to that list, however I often find myself intolerant of people who are themselves intolerant. I do not know people from a vast range of different religions. I know a couple Muslims, Hindus and Buddhists and have never had arguments or issues with them as people. Perhaps the religion itself (there is definitely a lot I do not agree with in the Muslim faith), but not the people. The religion I encounter the most, as most of us do, is Christianity – in all its various forms. The friends I have who are Christian are a tolerant bunch, maybe not always accepting, but tolerant. I know they accept me for who I am, a person who doesn’t live my life the way they believe a good person should. But yet they are accepting. I in turn am tolerant of their beliefs, until they are intolerant. Then my own intolerance sets in. Therefore, I cannot call myself tolerant. I am intolerant of my intolerance. So where does that leave me? Confused. And intolerant – which is not what I want to be. But is a tolerant person a paradox within itself, as you would have to be a saint to be tolerant of intolerant people. And of course it is against a saint’s religion to accept certain people. I might stop now, before I wind myself into a knot of confusion and despair.
If you think you are a truly tolerant person, please explain to me your secret.