Learning from mobsters

What can we learn from mobsters as people? As Christians?

The enemy of my enemy is... my friend.

While someone may argue that this is a cop out, i often argue that we haven't truly earned the right to be arguing about homosexuality over and above any heterosexual "sin" because we've done such a poor job of feeding the sick, clothing the naked and visiting the sick and in prison. i've blogged on this before.

i've hinted at this before, but someone who opposes you on one topic is not your ideological enemy if they are equally passionate about 2 or 10 or 200 things you agree upon. The enemy of my enemy is my friend.

Who is my/your real enemy? Who/what is your outright, 100%, always and forever enemy? What do you hate and hate with righteous anger? Hunger? Poverty? Injustice? Abuse? Neglect? Cruelty? How many people can get behind hating those things, fighting those things and crossing party lines to do it?

Keep your friends close and your enemies closer...

If this be true for us, and our enemies are hunger, poverty, injustice, abuse, neglect, cruelty and more, and our friends are those who share this enemy, then does it not follow that we keep those friends (even those we disagree with) close and stay ever on the frontlines battling those enemies we share?

Maybe these are not the lessons intended from the Godfather or the Sopranos or Al Capone, but maybe we can learn a little something on how to do justice and love kindness as we walk humbly with our God and all of God's children who share a very real and common enemy.