Won, Forrest, Won!

* I have decided to edit this from the previous version

Was going to name this blog post "The Gospel According to Forrest." I had been beaten to the punch. Several citations already. From what I watched, my take on Forrest is a bit different than others. So, off we going running.

On my runs to the river and back, a five mile route, I run through Columbia, Pa. It is a hard-luck town with a depressed economy and a proud but beat-up people. Most of them seriously out of shape and obese. Columbia ain't going to win any beauty contest. During my runs, it is not unusual for people to make comments. Recently, the comment du jour has been "Run, Forrest, Run." The other day, a young lady slowed down with her window rolled down and said it to me from about 8 feet away.

The other incident recently was a group of teens hanging out. That happened about two weeks before the second Forrest comment. There was a third yelled from a decrepit house. In all 3 cases, those saying it thought they were being witty. I doubt they really meant anything harmful by it. Nonetheless, I processed the events as an insult. I don't like being called retarded. Here's why.

I was Forrest Gump when a kid, down to my very orthopedic shoes. I was called retarded by a teacher and at least one student from what I can recall. My disabilities in many ways have made me both stronger and weaker. I present myself intellectually and athletically. My Ph.D. is testimony that despite my Learning Disabilities, I have a good mind, albeit with giftedness and limitations. Sports was my first arena of success and status. Despite having cerebral palsy, mild but real on my left side, I was still the best athlete in my elementary school grade until a move-in displaced me from my throne in 6th grade.

After the first incident of the Teens shouting "Run, Forrest, Run" I stopped and told them from half block away to shut their mouths and that I didn't appreciate being called Forrest. They complied. I am not one to not confront people generally because I know that having a big mouth can lead to trouble. I don't insult people when I confront them (usually) but neither do I walk away. I feel that kids need to know that an adult is going to not back down from their taunts. My experience with Teens is that you have to draw the line somewhere and our jails are full of man/boys that didn't know how to keep their mouths shut and one thing lead to another and somebody wound up dying over something stupid.

With the girl driving, I could have called her "Jenny," the sexually promiscuous and self-destructive woman in the film. I don't think she would enjoy the allusion. Yet, I had posted something on Facebook about the lack of inventiveness and lameness in the "Run, Forrest, Run" insulting comments. An acquaintance commented that I should take it as a compliment. That suggestion, along with feedback from my Pastor, made me consider Forrest.

He was:

- Courageous in battle and loyal to Bubba and his commanding officer. A good friend.
- He loved Jenny despite her self-destructive ways. There is a scene in the movie where he says something like "I may not be smart but I know what love is" when she refuses to marry him.

Forrest exhibited a magnanimity in spirit despite a low IQ. I was reading today of Albert Speer who was the chief architect for the Third Reich, and who later served in a role of keeping the German war machine and munitions industry running despite Allied bombing. He was highly intelligent and a true believer in Hitler. Only at the end, when Hitler ordered the self-immolation of Germany, and defeat was certain, did Speer have second thoughts about the highly influential role in the rise of Nazism he played. He designed the theatrics of the  Nuremberg Rallies that were technically spectacular and created a supernatural aura and visage of the Fuhrer that did much to create the illusion of massive unstoppable power and authority. Speer denied knowledge of the the extent of the Holocaust despite being the governing authority on the use of enslaved labor from conquered lands.

Speer was one of the few Nazis who exhibited remorse for his role in the madness that was Germany and spent 20 years in prison for his war crimes, and then was paroled. He, through his writings, provided a clear look into that world of Nazi ideology. Since he was a close confidant of Hitler, his perspective is unique. Who knows where he stood with God? Maybe he writes of it in his books. When I became a Christian, it was very important to me, because of my history, that it be intellectually tenable. I know that many non-Christians think us to be less intelligent than they are. But, God has always raised up a witness like C.S. Lewis to show the wise person of the age that Christianity is intellectually credible because it is True. Not that we have all of the answers, far from it, but that the Faith is reasonable. That is, it can be embraced without having a lobotomy.

Tell me, who would God choose? A mentally slow man with a sterling soul or a morally retarded man  with a great mind? Forrest. Forrest wins. God chooses the foolish to confound the wise.