BUCKING THE SYSTEM: FANATICS AND LUKEWARMERS AND TAKING STANDS

Sometimes I wish I were a fanatic.

A fanatic is, by definition, someone who is unreasonably enthusiastic or overly zealous. They take things to extremes in order to express their approval or disapproval of someone or something.

There are fanatics to match almost as many things as exist in this world. There are religious fanatics, sports fanatics, exercise fanatics and book fanatics. Also walking around town are drug fanatics, computer fanatics, housekeeping fanatics and shoe fanatics.

These people don't always go by the title fanatic, nor are they all bad people. For example, cartoon enthusiasts are generally fun people to be around, as are movie buffs and secret admirers. However, when these people take their enjoyment to the extreme -- as do some holy rollers, racial bigots and warmongers -- then we have a problem.

I'm not into the fanatic lifestyle. I like a lot of things, but I can't really put a finger on a single thing I enjoy above all others. I take pride in my hometown and my family, my new car and my ethnic origins, but I really can't call myself fanatical about any of those things.

I guess taking something to the pinnacle of enjoyment or worship or anger seems just a bit ... well, a bit extreme.

Even so, I wonder if the fanatics of the world don't have the right idea. To their credit, they don't do things half-measure, so when they give their devotion to something they give it until the cup runneth over.

It's all about zeal, and they've got an abundance of it.

A lot of us lukewarmers like to lower our standards a bit. We support something until it isn't popular anymore, or until we're asked to sacrifice something in the name of what we believe in. That's when we decide our comfort is a lot more important than anything we might have felt some zeal towards, and we back away.

I think age might have something to do with that. Several years ago I fit the fanatic profile. I was very zealous in my support for affirmative action, rights for the homeless, free speech, anti-apartheid and "justice for all." I attended rallies and made speeches, organized protests and just generally made sure my voice was heard.

I've gotten older (read comfortable) now, and I'm not that girl whose picture was prominently displayed on the front page of the New York Times nearly a decade ago. House payments and day care expenses have slowed me down and toned me down.

My zeal appears to be gone.

But every once in a while it resurfaces, and I remember the Tamara that was. Just recently I was placed in a situation where I disagreed with "The Establishment," and I found the voice I needed to make the statement that was necessary.

I wasn't fanatical about it, but I was firm. The fact that the people around me were unsure how to handle the situation let me know that what I did was the right thing to do.

I probably haven't changed a thing, but at least now there are others who recognize that I'm not a meek little rabbit. I'll go along to get along, but even lukewarmers have a breaking point.

Once we've reached it, we respond with the appropriate level of action to get things accomplished "by any means necessary."

There's nothing like a fanatic who's gained a little insight to stir the sticking pot.

~Tamara Zellars Buck is a staff writer for the Southeast Missourian.