Bill Cosby was born and grew up in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Cosby was raised in a dual-religion household: Methodist and Baptist. Surprisingly, Cosby isn't all that religious. He says that he identifies with both denominations but when it comes to going to church or otherwise practicing his faith, he's more of an "absentee voter" and saying:
There are times when I will regard and think consciously about [my faith] and then there are times when I move without it.[1]
Cosby respects the positive influence church can have on a society, if used properly, and cites the Muslim religion as an example, saying:
If you visit these neighborhoods and look, the thing that stands out with the black Muslims is no drugs, no alcohol.[2]
And Cosby is critical of evangelists. He says they miss the point. Rather than trying to "conquer" someone with their faith, they should be focusing on modeling their own behavior after Christ.[3]
Cosby is a career comedian, and as such, doesn't mind using religion and the Bible for jokes and has sectioned-off large portions of his book, I Didn't Ask to Be Born (But I'm Glad I Was), to cracking wise about the story of Adam & Eve, Noah, and a host of other biblical characters.[4]
The intersection of Democrat and conservative
Bill Cosby is a Democrat, make no mistake about it. Of the $20,000 Cosby has donated to political causes since 1987, the majority of it was to Democratic candidates and the rest was to either Democrat or non-partisan special interest groups.[5]
He campaigned for Obama in 2008[6] and defended the president's name in 2012. Referring to Obama's epic battles with Congress, Cosby said:
And then when you see that [Obama] made promises and said things, the people who were supposed to be working with him didn't. The people who are supposed to be working — even for another party — didn't care about the American people. They wanted to get him… I believe he is for the people.[7]
But when it comes to social values, Cosby is quite conservative–and has taken quite a bit of criticism for it. It doesn't stop him, though, and at 75 years old, Cosby still speaks about his social views on nationwide tours, at schools and churches, and in the news.[8]
In essence, Cosby feels that America's black community has and is letting itself down. Cosby thinks they spend too much time blaming others for their problems and not enough time instilling family values in their kids or getting an education.[9] And don't get him started on the African-American interpretation of the English language. He says:
Everybody knows it's important to speak English, except these knuckleheads! You can't land a plane with [speaks gibberish]. You can't be a doctor with that kind of crap![10]
But as much as the African-American community's use of language bothers Cosby, that's not the real issue. He says:
We're [the black community] killing ourselves. Why? We're making fools of ourselves.[11]
Much of what Cosby says is perceived as him turning on his own people and ignoring other social factors in the plight of the black community.[12]
Whether he's right or wrong, Cosby certainly could spend the rest of his days in comfortable retirement, but he's got the courage to get out there and speak his mind.
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