{"id":1967,"date":"2018-04-26T20:41:34","date_gmt":"2018-04-27T03:41:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/felixculpa\/?p=1967"},"modified":"2018-04-26T20:41:34","modified_gmt":"2018-04-27T03:41:34","slug":"bill-cosby-and-leaving-judgment-to-god","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/felixculpa\/2018\/04\/bill-cosby-and-leaving-judgment-to-god.html","title":{"rendered":"Bill Cosby and Leaving Judgment To God"},"content":{"rendered":"<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC \"-\/\/W3C\/\/DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional\/\/EN\" \"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/REC-html40\/loose.dtd\">\n<html><head><meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"><meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"><\/head><body><p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-450 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/757\/2017\/05\/barbed-wire-600471_640_opt.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"314\"><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Is not the entire nation bummed about Bill Cosby today? <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Now that I\u2019m in my late forties (almost), I don\u2019t keep up with pop culture much. I don\u2019t have modern day actors and actresses I adore, look up to, or idolize. But back in the 80\u2019s, when I was growing up, Bill Cosby was just about every teenager\u2019s idol and \u2026 <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">uhhh<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, I guess we\u2019ll call it <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">substitute<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> dad.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Some of us were being raised by good fathers, but in the teen years, strife happens in the parent\/child relationship. Even amongst Doctor Heathcliff Huxtable and his kids, there was tension. But we could come home, experience tension with our own fathers, retreat to our room or basement, and watch <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">fictional<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> strife that somehow took our real life strife and made it bearable. Maybe even funny.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Yes, that\u2019s it. He made it possible to laugh at ourselves. Our parents. Our domestic situations.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Today, nobody\u2019s laughing. From what I read, Bill Cosby is ticked about being convicted, about being considered a flight risk, and about the upcoming reality of being treated like a prisoner (although we all know his cell will be \u2026 <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">cushy<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">). Those he abused have been understandably ticked for decades. And those of us watching today and for decades are ticked because we feel betrayed.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It all makes me wonder why and how we get so attached to public figures. I\u2019ve never spoken to or seen Bill Cosby in my entire life. I\u2019m willing to bet that ninety-nine point nine, nine, nine percent of my readers haven\u2019t either. Yet here we all are, weeping for our make-believe father.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I don\u2019t have answers to my own question. Humans have always succumbed to people worship, when really, the only Person to ever deserve our worship is Christ \u2013 and yet, we crucified Him. So, we are not the best judge of character, are we? That fact alone makes me wonder how well the jury judged. Could they have wrongly convicted the long-time, well-known, well-loved comedian? Were those accusing Cosby of sexual misconduct talented actresses themselves, and were they solely after monetary gain? Was the judge fair? Or did the judge have an ulterior motive of promoting the #MeToo movement and making a nation-wide, highly publicized statement that women will no longer tolerate being groped, drugged, and taken advantage of sexually?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The answer is:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I don\u2019t know.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And neither do you.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We know bits and pieces of each side of the story. But we were not there. The judge was not there. The jury was not there. The only people on earth who know the truth and nothing but the truth about whether the hanky panky that went on was consensual or forced are Billy Cosby and his accusers.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Having said that, the jury has spoken. They know gobs more than you or I know. And so, we must accept the fact that they sat through hour upon hour of testimony and evidence, and additionally took another fourteen hours to finally conclude that Cosby was indeed guilty of sexual assault.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We must also accept that Bill Cosby and his wife claim the evidence was overlooked, and that Cosby remains innocent.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I have a sneaking suspicion most Americans will come to a verdict of their own. It is our nature to do so, and we will be biased. Maybe because we are male. Maybe because we are female. Maybe because we\u2019ve personally been sexually assaulted, and we wish to see such atrocities fought against. I\u2019m in that camp. I\u2019ve experience the assault, and I want someone to put a stop to it. Like, thousands of yesteryears ago.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Still, being a woman and all, I know that none of us in the double X chromosome camp are perfect. Our motives are not always pure and spotless. We are sinners, just like those in the XY camp. Just like Bill Cosby. So, just because the accuser is a woman, and just because that woman says she was assaulted, does not <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">make it so<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. In 2006, Andrea Constand settled with Cosby for over three million George Washingtons. Except, apparently, things in her mind were not settled at all. The settlement itself is perhaps more indicative of Cosby\u2019s guilt or innocence. Who would pay out that much money if they weren\u2019t guilty and didn\u2019t highly desire to keep their guilt <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">quiet?<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Not I.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But then, I don\u2019t have millions to spare.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What I\u2019m getting at is that the Bill Cosby case is a tangled web, woven a long, long time ago. I know what it\u2019s like to want to take someone to court for sexaul assault decades after it happened. The assault is almost impossible to prove. No, in most cases, it <\/span><b><i>is<\/i><\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> impossible to prove. It\u2019s usually a case of he said, she said, if any time at all has passed. Of course, not everyone can afford a Gloria Allred, and I highly suspect her presence and expertise played a role in the outcome of the trial.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You see what\u2019s happened. People -rich people- have duked it out, and the one with the most money lost. Maybe because he\u2019s guilty. Maybe because this was a great opportunity for feminists to crucify a high-profile individual in order to make their point.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Indeed \u2026 the tangled web we weave.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In my heart, I want Bill Cosby to be innocent. Also in my heart, I want to believe that no fellow double X-er would ruin a high profile person to make a point. That is not the way to make a point. The way to make a point is:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Do<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> seek justice on earth. God has given us government and a justice system just for that purpose. If Bill Cosby did it, he deserves to be locked up so he can\u2019t do it again. But ultimately \u2026 realize that God has said \u201cVengeance is mine, I will repay.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">At times, it feels like that doesn\u2019t quite cut it, right? Why would leaving vengeance to Someone else be beneficial?<br>\n<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br>\n<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I\u2019ve asked the same question, because as I said, I don\u2019t have a Gloria Allred. I\u2019ve no money. I\u2019ve no evidence. I\u2019ve nuthin\u2019 but my word against his. Therefore, I have no choice but to leave my abuser in the hands of God Almighty.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Almighty.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Do we know the power of God? Do we understand what the vengeance of God looks like? Do we understand that God, in His infinite knowledge and perfection is able to dole out the best judgment on an unrepentant sinner?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Do we remember what the Lord said about those who \u201coffend little children\u201d? He said <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">it would be better for them if a millstone were hung around their neck, and they were thrown into the sea<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. (Mark 9:42)<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">That\u2019s infinitely more just than a cushy jail cell, in my opinion.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As for me and my personal sexual assault case, I <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">have<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> left judgment with the Lord. If I could do it over again, I would\u2019ve sought earthly justice decades ago. If not for myself, for those who my abuser almost assuredly went on to abuse after me. He was just that kind of guy. A womanizer. A manipulator. A con-man, especially where little girls barely out of the tween years were concerned. He was everything dozens of women are accusing Cosby of today,<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> sans<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> drugs.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Whatever the whole truth is concerning the Cosby case, it leaves me sad and angry and otherwise emotionally triggered. Still, I choose to leave ultimate judgment for all involved to the Lord, because He\u2019s <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">all-knowing<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, wise, perfectly just, and good.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And frankly, humans are not. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u00a0 Is not the entire nation bummed about Bill Cosby today? Now that I\u2019m in my late forties (almost), I don\u2019t keep up with pop culture much. I don\u2019t have modern day actors and actresses I adore, look up to, or idolize. But back in the 80\u2019s, when I was growing up, Bill Cosby was [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2920,"featured_media":450,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[239,530,28,536,16,533,124,539,235,18],"class_list":["post-1967","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-metoo","tag-bill-cosby","tag-feminism","tag-gods-goodness","tag-judgment","tag-justice","tag-parenting","tag-perfection","tag-sexual-assault","tag-sin"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Bill Cosby and Leaving Judgment To God<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"&nbsp; Is not the entire nation bummed about Bill Cosby today? Now that I\u2019m in my late forties (almost), I don\u2019t keep up with pop culture much. 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