Modern Day Gadfly

A person that is well known and irritating is Fred Phelps, the leader of the Westboro Baptist Church. He thinks that all of our problems in this world have arisen because the general public does not follow the bible closely enough. The main focus of this man’s philosophy is the “problem” of gays in our society. He feels that because there are gays in society, everyone suffers and anyone in the world that isn’t a member of the WBC will all go to Hell. To get his view out into the world, he and his 39 followers go to heavily populated areas where many people will see them. He goes wherever he feels and doesn’t care about others. He has even gone to funerals to protest. One of the most significant of these funerals was for the death of Matthew Shepherd. Matthew Shepherd was a kid in high school that was beaten and left hanging dead on a fence all because he was gay. Fred has tried multiple times to get into a position of power in the government. He wants laws that aren’t made by the people but by his own interpretation of the Bible.

Unexamined Life

I feel that an examined life is a life that is questioned. Therefore, an unexamined life is a life in which someone goes about their day not thinking. I feel that everyone should not only listen to news but to search for it and use that information to be able to form their own opinions so that they don't get used by people in power.
Even though I think that we should live life examining our actions and morals, I wouldn't say that living an unexamined life is meaningless. I think that not examining your life will make it easier for some people to find happiness and that is what I think our goal in life should be.

Daniel Shumaker is a Junior at Whitney M. Young High School. He likes to swim, play waterpolo, and play the violin. He hasn't really formed any views on society or anything else since he just started to question things. Before this, he just went through life as it was told to him but now wants to become more educated and to be able to not only form his own ideas, but to be able to argue them as well.