Introduction

Posted in .../Blog on 2011-10-30

My name is Kent Dickinson. I wrote the nonfiction book, CRIMES OF A CHRISTIAN, published by One Body Press. Orignally, it wasn’t my goal to write a book. My goal was to save the jobs of my 400 fellow union members – and stay out of prison. I failed at both. In Chicago, a labor union is never a benign, noble entity. It is an extension of the city’s political machine with ties to the Mob. As I rose through the union ranks I learned things I didn’t want to learn and did things my Christian upbringing told me I shouldn’t be doing. I was no naive, wild kid. When the United States Attorney General John Ashcroft held a press conference to announce the federal indictments of myself and my union colleagues in 2003, I was a 53-year-old grandfather with a wife of 28 years. But more importantly, two years before the FBI “approached” me I had already quit all illegal activities and given my life over to God. And because of that, I believe He was watching over me during the time I was an FBI informant, and later, a federal prison inmate.

I wrote the book for two reasons: One, to show and share that we all struggle with the snares of the Earth and the demands of heaven. In prison I met many men – good men – who also fell prey to earthly snares: politicians, corporate CEO’s, bank presidents and even a Baptist minister who robbed banks on the side. You’ll meet them all in CRIMES OF A CHRISTIAN. The second reason I wrote the book is because God told me to. I didn’t want to write CRIMES OF A CHRISTIAN. My original manuscript was entitled OF MOVIES, THE MOB AND ME. It focused on my cirminal activities and prison time, with little mention of God. Like any project without Him, it went nowhere. It took a lot of listening to my heart, a few major re-writes and an inspired title before CRIMES OF A CHRISTIAN was born.

This blog is open to comments and thoughts about any of the major themes from the book: Christianity, unions, the Mob, prison life and even movies. I have two rules for all posters: Truth always, profanity never. God bless.