Cosby Scolds Idle Churchgoers
 

What do you all think about Bill Cosby view of the black community? Personally I say don't speak about it be about it, Bill singles out so many people in our community including church folk, but what is he really doing to effect change? Talking will not change anything only your actions will.

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I definitely agree with this statement made by Dr. Cosby. If we say we love Jesus and if we say we are obedient to the Word of God and are walking by His word...why are we afraid to confront those who are acting out contrary to that which we know and believe is right...from a spiritual or nonspiritual standpoint.

We must show the love of Christ to win those who are in a lifestyle that can cause danger to themselves or others (i.e., drug dealers, prostitutes, etc.,)

This is true but is he practicing what he preaches? Mr. Cosby is not living in these neighborhoods where folks grandparents and children are getting hit with stray bullets and a drug deal is going down with or without your advise. There was a pastor that was killed in DC by trying to prevent two drug dealers from killing one another.

Thats another story...when people run their mouths and aren't doing anything about it. I didn't hear about the DC Preacher and my heart goes out to his family and members of his congregation - that is definitely a hard story to grasp! You have made a valid point in reference to just what is Dr. Cosby doing to help out the "community" that he is saying that "churchgoers" should be involved in?

As Janet Jackson would say with a twist - What has He done for the community lately?

Yes, that is what I am saying. He is doing all this bashing and no advocacy. Practice what you preach Bill. That was a tragedy with the pastor and now his family has to go on without him along with church members. This happened about 3 or so years ago in Southeast, DC. He was pumping his gas and saw the two drug dealers in an argument and tried to break it up and bring the Lord to them and they killed him and broad daylight.

Bill Cosby has done a his fair share for the black community so I think he is qualified to comment on its state. Who do you think should be commenting on it? Only people that live in a poor urban area? Or those that do not make over a certain median income?

Sorry, but I think if you are a person that is trying to better our community and society in general you can comment on it.

And seriously, at what point will we stop waiting on a person to get things started? I think the black church should be at the heart of fixing a lot of the ails of our community instead of waiting for someone else to do it. We should be the one's running after school programs (to keep kids productive and off the street), mini-health clinics in our church basements, drug/alcohol abuse support groups, etc. We need to be the ones to show the love of Christ in action everday by helping those around us.

True...problem is...some of those who are going about changing their communities (every day people) aren't getting the credit or support needed so often times they quit.

Everyone has their opinion about this conversation that is why I posted it to see what everyone thought not to bash folks. Have and have had my fair share and will continue to have my fair share in giving back to the community. I work with kids no one else would so I know about going where the need is but his discuss seems more like judgment and not strategy. I don’t see folks who are not doing anything to listen to his speech and be like oh man lets get out there and teach these kids or go up again these drug dealers. The problem is that if that is happening, its just one person and how do you move people, not by bashing them. I don’t have the answer but I don’t many people starting to get their hands dirty because Bill Cosby is now speaking out. I appreciate his efforts just not the way he is going about it.

In all honesty, they should quit if they're looking for accolades and praise. Helping isn't about "what can I get out of this". Its about doing what you can for where you are. To make it more plain, I'm sure there are chapters of GLOs that are doing things for our community that no one will ever hear about - and yet they keep going. More times than naught, you won't get any credit.

You don't have to wait until you have this big, full scale elaborate plan and money. If all your church can do is operate a substance abuse support group or run an after-school program then that's what you do. Each piece of the puzzle is important.

True I agree

I think the church, and others community institutions, ARE working to make things better on small and large scales, depending on their size/resources. The church's PRIMARY mission, IMO, is showing people the realization of Jesus Christ as Savior, and secondarily showing people how to live more vibrant and impactful lives while we await Christ's return. My church has a community center which houses a K-3 school, an elder day care, and periodically has housed a small business incubator. On top of traditional support ministries for congregants and frankly anybody who comes in the door. That doesn't make us special; as a lot of churches do similar things, which is what we should be doing.

But this constant criticism that everything is a perpetual downward spiral is tired. Poor people making poor socio-economic choices live in every American city. But so do people working to make bad situations better. BOTH these groups existed before Cosby's current world tour. Maybe Cosby's folks should devise a metric so we can chart successes and replicate successful delivery models in other communities.

I respect and love Bill Cosby for his accomplishments and his example of Black success in America. His words are not without some merit. But it's time for this blanket castigation of all things Black lower socio-economic class to stop.

True 100%

Thank you for so eloquently articulating exactly how I feel. I agree with some of what Bill says, but I am not sure what he is accomplishing or that how he is going about it will have any impact. More often than not I think he is "preaching to the choir." I think many of the situations he describes are ones that have spiraled out of control and even those in them are not clear how to make a difference. Is he really proposing good working solutions? A bunch of Christian brothers throwing on suits and running up on drug dealers in Baltimore is just going to add to the body count. That is not a safe or realistic solution. Can we talk about what works and what can work and how we can really make a difference?

I totally agree. And I agree with whomever said that bashing people will not motivate them. I think that most of the people that he is targeting will discount his opinion by saying "he is rich, famous and so far removed from our daily struggle...who is he to speak on what we are/are not doing?"

Bill Cosby served in the military, played sports, got a PhD (I didn't know that one until recently), and then became one of the best known and respected people in entertainment. "Cosby is now a leading educational philanthropist" indicating he gives back to the community. He also created a show about middle class African Americans doing well which is a pretty rare show to ever see on tv. How can he not be a great role model?

Also most of what he says has been said by others like Jesse Jackson, Cornel West, and Spike Lee.

So why the backlash? Probably because of the media's selective coverage of what he says - only showing the bad things. They make it seems as if he put all the blame on blacks when he didn't. They also took out the praise he gave to many black organizations and churches. Regarding Christians stopping drug dealers, it was in the context of saying that Black Muslims have done a good job of doing that on street corners and also that blacks have to do it because cops (society) aren't helping them in their neighborhoods. If anyone got bashed in that speech it was the cops.

You can find the text to all his speeches online without any media twists on them. :)

-Rudey