Many times you may not agree with others, and they may not agree with you. There is a thing called high road. We can often practice it. There is right time to pick battles, not every disagreement should be a war. You hurt those you profess to care for, putting them in precarious position.
You may not like me for saying this. But today wasn't the day to pick that fight. Especially on a public platform. One on one, it's ethical - done privately. Doesn't matter who started it, what if, and had enough, or just b/c, but, that's all status quo. It boil downs to "our own actions".
I am genuinely sorry your feelings were hurt at one point.