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My tolerance of alternative moral, philosophical and political viewpoints comes from a history of being a hardcore vegan -a thread 
1- I used to be a hardcore vegan- A little more than 10 years ago I read @PeterSinger's "Animal Liberation" and went from eating meat to being vegan in one day. And, like many new vegans, I had the fervor of the newly converted.
2- Around the time I became vegan, I was a hardcore atheist - judgemental about religious people and pro-lifers. I met several Christian pro-life vegans. Their views led them to share my minority moral views. So, I learned to like Christian pro-lifers.
3- At the time I went vegan, almost everyone I knew, and everyone I loved and admired including my family bought and ate meat. Most of the time they didn't care that they were literally funding industries that cause suffering on a massive scale. They had no interest in changing.
4- It's visceral to see someone you love eating meat when you're vegan. It's confronting to see them spend thousands to save a dog but not be willing to abstain from meat for a day. But to have a normal life, I had to learn to tolerate them and their views.
5- When I was vegan I was part of a subculture of people who saw the majority of the world as moral monsters. I realized all of us are moral monsters to someone. All of us like or love someone who we would consider moral monsters, if we knew all their views and their history.
6- I'm a moral realist- but the way we come to our beliefs are due to circumstances mostly outside our control. When you shun and ostracize people whose views differ from yours they join subcultures that increase polarization- including contempt, hatred and distrust for others.
7- So, it's not a common story, but being vegan taught me high tolerance for people whose views differ from mine. You can think half the country are moral monsters- but it's not going to make you happy, it's not going to change their minds. Everyone is a moral monster to someone.
