Bill Cosby was not exonerated and will take his guilt to the grave with him

No remorse?

… from “America’s dad” to a pariah

All the while that Bill Cosby was posing as a beneficent father in a sitcom and was wooing white America to his side, he was harboring a brutal secret. 

He was a sexual predator. 

Because of statutes of limitation, along with the fear of many women that no one would believe them if they made allegations against an icon, Cosby managed to skate free.

Until 2018. 

He was then convicted by a jury in Montgomery County, Pa. of sexual assault a young woman by the name of Andrea Constand, who suffered severe emotional damage as a result of the rape. 

Cosby served three years in a maximum security prison outside of Philadelphia until her was released by the Pa. Supreme Court on a controversial technicality. 

What never changed is that his reputation is forever damaged and his name, instead of being known as a truly funny comedian, will be forever linked to the idea that he was a predator. At least 60 women have come forward to claim that he did to them what he did to Ms. Constand, but the statutes are protecting them. 

What Cosby will not be able to escape is the eternal pain of his conscience, and if he does not have one, he will be reminded of it when he tried to wrangle his way into heaven. 

If he does not confess and do penance, his chances of heaven are gone. 

The Cosby Show is now retired

Once revered, his release from prison, which was permitted by the U.S. Supreme Court today without opinion, will never return his name of face to respectability,

Mr. Cosby’s 2018 conviction smashed the image he had once enjoyed as the upstanding paterfamilias in the wildly popular 1980s and ’90s sitcom “The Cosby Show.” His comedy career had already waned by that point as women came forward to accuse him of sexual misconduct. 

But public scrutiny deepened with his 2015 arrest and later two trials on charges he had drugged and sexually assaulted Andrea Constand …

Mr. Cosby has always maintained his innocence, describing his encounter with Ms. Constand as consensual. But for the many women who have accused him, and the many people who believe them, he remains a rich entitled man who beat the odds through good lawyering.

“There is no public appetite for Bill Cosby to have a comeback,” said Risa Heller, a crisis consultant who advised the disgraced former Representative Anthony Weiner. “I don’t think there are ways for Bill Cosby to rebuild trust.”

By Graham Bowley and Julia Jacobs, “Bill Cosby, Free but Not Exonerated, Faces an Uncertain Future,” New York Times, July 2, 2021

Can God forgive predators and molesters?

The part of some religions that I adamantly oppose is the idea that God will forgive all sins. Just go to confession, say five Our Fathers and that you will not do it again, and you are forgiven. 

By that logic, Adolf Hitler could have made a last-minute confession to a clergyman and said that he was sorry for the six million Jewish deaths and for started World War II, and he was then forgiven. 

It is like saying that Vladimir Putin could be forgiven for destroying a country and driving millions out of it — for no reason. 

Instead, I look at what Jesus said about sin,

8 If your hand or foot causes you to sin,* cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter into life maimed or crippled than with two hands or two feet to be thrown into eternal fire.

9 And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter into life with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into fiery Gehenna.

Matthew 18:8-9

Perhaps Cosby will have his “come to Jesus moment,” but what will happen after that? No one really knows, even if people believe in an afterlife — and I have my doubts. 

What is clear is that his reputation has been destroyed, and he will take the guilt to his grave with him.