Farewell to Joseph Hinman

It is with sadness and regret that I pass along news that my blog-brother Joseph Hinman (aka Metacrock) has passed away. He was not only one of the founding members of the Christian CADRE, but the unifier, the recruiter, the one who saw the potential for what we could be and brought us together. The CADRE was originally a group of Christians posting on religious-and-atheist discussion boards, sharing camaraderie and tips for working to spread faith on some boards that had been, previously, dominated by New Atheists (plus on some boards, one intensely polemical anti-Christian Jewish fellow). This was back in the days when major magazines had staff writers who prided themselves on increasing the intensity of their attacks on Christianity with each passing year, and major movie studios would coordinate anti-Christian pieces for public release to coincide with Christmas or the Resurrection. 

The CADRE formed late in the 1990's, seems like it was around 1998 or 1999. Though I left the CADRE back in 2005, I remember the CADRE days fondly as a formative time for both my ability to communicate my faith and my proficiency in addressing questions -- even trick questions / loaded questions -- in ways that could communicate God's grace. The CADRE'S work on message boards did see several active mockers come to faith, causing some shockwaves on those boards, and Joe was the one who organized and unified the CADRE. 

Not only was he dyslexic, but he had struggled for many years with poor health in his adult life, and had survived his twin brother by a number of years. Despite those challenges he ran several websites, published 2 books, and was continually looking for fresh ways to explain to scientific skeptics how the facts as he saw them did provide a rational warrant for belief. 

Joe, thank you for the friendship over the years, and for the joy and fellowship of working with you side-by-side for many years. I remember when your father and my father died within a few days of each other, and we shared a moment that they were meeting each other on the other side. Tell them Hi for me, and save me a seat! 

News was received through BK, another of the original CADRE members, via a post at the CADRE website. 

Christianity in Tolkien: Our fight is not against flesh and blood

In Lord of the Rings, there is a good deal of fighting with battles and armies. Still, the villain of the piece is not physical. The evil of Sauron is physically insubstantial, seen as a great eye wreathed in flame. Sauron dominates his subjects through fear, through manipulation, through temptation, through deceit. The greatest danger from Sauron comes not directly from him, but from those who willingly go along with his agenda to dominate, in the hopes of sharing the spoils or at least being on the winning side. 

Evil can be dangerous and destructive. But I am not aware of any naturally-occurring physical thing that is inherently evil, or where we can point to identify the source of evil. If evil had that kind of physical existence, we could destroy it by physical means. 

So Tolkien portrays a world in which the physical battles must be fought to protect the homes and lives of the free people, but the physical battles will never be fully successful so long as evil remains to go on recruiting and corrupting. The real battle is not against flesh and blood. 

Christianity in Tolkien: The risk of corruption and the hope of redemption

One spiritual insight developed by Tolkien is that everyone is corruptible. In the Lord Of The Rings books, we see the major characters each take their turns interacting with the One Ring, all tempted by it. The wisest of them know that they are corruptible and keep their distance from it. Some of them even get a glimpse of what they might become if they pursue that kind of power. 

Tolkien spends some time developing the theme that anyone could be corrupted. Saruman, former leader of the wizards, betrays Gandalf and joins forces with Sauron. And again Boromir, representative of the strongest kingdom in the alliance of the free lands, is the one who turns on Frodo. Those who trust to their own wisdom and strength have underestimated their opponent. Finally, even long-resilient Frodo falters in his battle with such temptation, being saved not by his exhausted strength but by the result of an earlier moment of compassion. 

By the same token, Tolkien portrays everyone as redeemable, or at least as having moments when they can be reached. Frodo refuses to break ties with Smeagol / Gollum not because of a misplaced trust, but because of the growing realization they are in the same predicament. 

It is easy to let ourselves imagine that we cannot be corrupted (or our heroes cannot be corrupted), or to imagine that anyone who missteps is a villain. In Tolkien's insight, the path forward is humility combined with hope and friendship.