When Does Passion turn into being a Fanatic?

Please keep this civil.

I have been meaning to ask this question for a long time. I have encountered many people that don't like talking about dogs with people simply because they think people in the dog world are fanatics.

Do I agree? To some degree yes. I think that some people can take something they are passionate about and become fanatics about it. To me there is a huge difference between someone who is passionate and someone who is a fanatic.

A person who is passionate loves to educate about what they know, discuss it, give examples of the pros and cons of why. BUT they also allow others their views even if they differ from theirs.

Someone who is a fanatic is someone who will beat you over the head over and over with their point of view. It is their way or the high way. And if you do not follow their way then you are A, B or C(substitute insult for the letters). They can't and won't allow anyone else their own point of view.

I know that I can be a fanatic sometimes. But I try hard to be passionate instead. If I expect others to respect me and my point of view then I have to allow them theirs. And sometimes I am great at that and sometimes I am not.

So what do you think? What is the difference between the two for you? Do you think you are at times a fanatic or do you think you are passionate? Or are you both?

Fanatic (adj): marked by excessive enthusiasm and often intense uncritical devotion (source: www.m-w.com)

I'm thinking the word that tips the balance in this definition is uncritical. In this context I'm fanatic about the shelter from which I adopted my cat... it is very hard to say anything negative about them. But negatives exist and I've seen good changes at the shelter that have come from them. Another example- I just finished reading the book "In the Garden of Beasts" which is about the US ambassador to Germany in the early 1930s. It was a time when some Germans were fanatic about Hitler and his associates, and others were not.

Conversely - I'm passionate about animal rescue, but not to the point where I can't offer criticism. Example- I wish there was a better way to transfer animals from places like animal control, where they can only be housed for a short time, to no-kill shelters. Where they might be found by their owners, adopted by new owners, or able to live with caring volunteers and staff at the shelter. But animal control is operated by the city of Chicago, and the no-kill shelters are private entities. I wish all animals could go directly to shelter programs, but that's not an option.

I'm trying in my life to follow Stephen Covey's advice to "seek first to understand, then to be understood". If someone helps me understand why they are fanatic about (insert subject here), then I can agree or disagree and move on. I might not agree with someone about a specific subject, but that doesn't mean we can't agree on other subjects or just agree to disagree on the issue at hand.

Hope this helps,
elyse