So, if "they" judge me it's intolerance, but if I judge them it's intelligence?
Neat trick.
If that's your unconscious frame of reference during these highly charged times mmmaybe that's something to look at, eh?
Being intolerant is the sad privilege of every Homo Sapien walking the earth -- hell, it's practically a birth right. But setting aside any moralistic judgment about human nature, that some of it is "bad" and some of it "good" (or in the 12 Step lexicon "sick" and "healthy"), the fact seems to be -- born out by the personal experience of many, many, many individuals who seek to develop a conscious contact with God (again, in AA speak, a seeking unlimited by any particular doctrine, and a God as you understand God) -- the more I allow intolerance to dominate my view of others the less able to grow along spiritual lines I seem to be. (Though the dark comedy there is that many wrap their intolerance in Godly terms -- which just goes to show that not only does God apparently have a sense of humor, but perhaps a sense of irony as well.)
Intolerance is not conducive to spiritual growth, no matter how sweet it may taste wrapped in my (admittedly brilliant) justifications, explanations and rationalizations. (The "tions" self-deception trifecta! Hat trick! Woo!)
Of course the will and the attempt to develop and grow a spiritual contact is far from the sole provenance of AA's alone (obviously). In recovery we are driven to it by the instinct to survive (no matter how twisted and shriveled it may be in an addict), others actually seek it for the betterment of themselves and the world around them. Imagine! (And they, too, often wrap their search in Godly terms, which just goes to show that not only does God apparently have a sense of irony, but it seems a sense of balance, as well.)
While being consumed by intolerance is sad and painful and likely a barrier to spiritual growth for anyone, it is deadly for an alcoholic attempting to stay sober, as continuing to grow along spiritual lines is the way 30 days' worth of one-day-at-a-times turn into 30 years' worth of one-day-at-a-times.
And that's a neat trick.