Bill Cosby becomes guest of American government : The gulf between character and talent

Bill Cosby's fall was spectacular. The entertainer was once revered as America’s favourite father figure. Sadly, he graduated into a sexually violent predator. How are the mighty fallen.

The 81-year-old actor has now been sentenced to up to ten years in prison for using his position as a talented entertainer to further his sexual adventure. Cosby becomes the first celebrity to be tried and convicted for sex crimes since the dawn of the #MeToo movement.

The chances are that many men like him will be blaming the fallen icon for allowing himself to be caught. These ones have conveniently forgotten that, eventually, your sins will find you out.



Humiliatingly, the actor will now need to register with state police and notify any community he lives in of his status and must undergo monthly counselling for the rest of his life.

You may recall that, for several years, Cosby was one of America’s most popular entertainers. He played the role of the affable patriarch Cliff Huxtable in The Cosby Show, which ran from 1984-92.



Some are likely to read racism into his trial. However, there is a saying that if people are trying to set you on fire, it is foolish to help such people by dousing yourself in petrol.

In any case, it is a historical fact that Cosby was convicted of drugging and indecently assaulting Ms Constand, who knew him through her job at Temple University in Philadelphia, where she was a sports director and he a trustee. The woman considered Mr Cosby a mentor and friend and had gone to his house one evening in 2004 to discuss career advice. However, she ended up drugged and immobilised on a sofa, drifting in and out of consciousness while he molested her.



In a world bereft of spirituality, people are more likely to be feted for their talents. The truth, however, is that talent resides in the soul while character is a function of the spirit. It must be noted that the human spirit is dead until it is made alive by the Spirit of God. Until the human spirit is made alive and grows, there can be no character.