Should tolerant people never say anything to cause offence?

Should tolerant people never say anything to cause offence?



Tolerance in general is not liking a person's belief or stance but you do however respect or tolerate the belief because you know that your own beliefs are important to you. It's a sense of empathy (despite the fact that you don't agree with this belief).

So to go back to the main question we have to know whether causing offence to a person would make you less tolerant, or not tolerant at all. But first what is defined as offence? Is it racial hatred or a criticism of a belief or practice? Let's assume it's a criticism. Some would say that causing offence to a person would not make you intolerant. For instance, would you want a person offending your beliefs? Because technically when you are offending a person you are opening a gateway for people to offend your beliefs. Many who carry this belief would give you this scenario:

Mr A is walking down the street. He is a Labour voter and has been all his life. He bumps into Mr B who is a Tory voter. They have a chat and Mr A says the following: "I don't agree with your opinions on the economy but I respect your right to believe them and to express those views however you want." They (people who follow this opinion) conclude that tolerance is a form of respect and in order to preserve your own beliefs you should not cause offence to people who have opposing views. Surely being tolerant is allowing a belief because you have your own beliefs which matter to you as much as they matter to others?