Bill Cosby & Lying to Ourselves

I love Bill Cosby. Actually, I love Cliff Huxtable, but in all honesty, those two names are pretty much synonymous in my world. I grew up watching The Cosby Show. My planned parenting technique is to make my kids watch the show, then say, "I watched this when I was your age. I've had thirty years to think up something even worse to do to you." Watch the episode where Vanessa gets drunk if you want to understand how terrifying this concept truly is.

The Cosby Show was part of our household routine. My sister and I got to stay up a half hour later on Thursday nights to watch The Cosby Show. We had popcorn that night. When I was still young enough that my parents (well, my grandmother) worried about me choking on husks, I had puff corn instead. When my mom, who started college when my sister started kindergarten, had a night class, my sister was charged with making the popcorn. The Cosby Show is culturally embedded not only for me, but an entire generation.

I confess: I haven't read a single story about the allegations against Bill Cosby. I can't bring myself to click on them. The illusion of who this man was is gone, but I don't want to know any more. I believe the allegations are true. I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that the appropriate response to any claim of rape is, "I believe you." The number of women coming forward scares me.

In this week of the Epiphany, a week when more women have stepped forward, I'm reminded again of how difficult it can be to face the truth. Christ coming upset the world and rulers so much that King Herod opted to kill toddlers and infants as his way of dealing with the new, tiny king. I like to think of myself more like the magi--excited, joyful, glad something new had come.

Here comes the more difficult confession: I prefer comfort.

I prefer the lie that comforts. I prefer to ignore the harsher things in life. I prefer the view of the world that doesn't challenge who I am or what I do. And I don't think I'm much different from most people.

That's why our world is so broken and why we need a savior. We need a savior who promises to redeem what we have done wrong and points us to something different.

It's amazing how sobering that confession still is. I know it. Most of us, in fact, know that something's off and we need some help. Still, it's sobering, and terrifying, and overwhelming to say, "I'd rather believe the lies than deal with the truth."

God help us. Because the truth is hard to face.