Recent searches
Search options
Dear Gen Z,
In 1992 Sinéad O'Connor ripped a picture of the Pope in half on Saturday Night Live to protest the sex abuse scandals in the Catholic Church. She was roundly condemned except by a few.
In the years and decades that followed the truth came out and the scope of abuse within the Catholic Church came to light. Many, but not enough, were punished. Many, but no where near enough, victims were heard, believed and lived to see some measure of justice.
1/2
Very few people who condemned her then apologised.
In your lives you will see people speak the truth. It might be uncomfortable. They might not do it "the right way." It will still be the truth. Meet their brash bravery with kindness and an open ear.
Do better than we did. Not for us but for her.
2/2
@lyda
These are dangerous days.
To say what you feel is to dig your own grave.
Remember what I told you:
If you were of the world they would love you.
@ursaborealis @lyda I was just thinking this song could have been written yesterday...
I'm just crushed...
@ballerinaX @lyda
I'm perpetually disturbed by how frequently I turn to this song in the wake of police killing Black people.
@lyda it takes so much courage to voice truths no one eise will speak, especially when we treat those who keep faith with their consciences so badly.
@lyda The "You're Wrong About" podcast did a great deep dive into the frenzy about the incident, what she'd been through, and what was done to retaliate against her, and how she continued to create after being blacklisted.
@lyda /virtual pat on the shoulder with a solemn nod.
Well said Kevin
@lyda
I actually saw that SNL live and remember being very confused because I could barely see the picture that she was holding up. Not only was she condemned there was a huge disinformation campaign about why she did it- people were saying she was condemning religion and Christianity in general- no mention whatsoever of the abuse happening in the Catholic Church. It was several years before I heard the whole story.
@lyda Yes, and now people are ignoring the massive piles of evidence that “celibate” priests hanging out with kids is a bad idea and going after an imaginary threat from drag performers and transgender folks, but hey never let facts get in the way of a good mob witch burning right?
@lyda Big moment in my life. She demonstrated how simple (but not easy) it could be to resist.
@lyda Thank you for posting this. Sinead was right - about everything.
ok... so I just did some basic level searching, woah...
I think currently, there are alot of just fake stories and baseless accusations going on right now.
That's not going to get better into the future, I don't think.
But, if you are wrong on something, and you can see it.
Make sure to make sure to restate where you are at, and why.
Make sure to make it right from there, because ultimately you just can't get it fully right.
My ask that you correct your previous statements
I'm incredibly shortening my statements here, because well character limit, lemme switch to my other account
LRG 
@lyda I thought I recognized her. I remember seeing clips of that a while back. Memory got fuzzy tho.
@lyda Sinéad had a very difficult life from all I have read. When you live outside of mainstream thought, life is even harder. She had the courage to call things out. We live in a time when we need to call things out, too. We're witnessing #ClimateChange destroy the planet we're living on. Business as usual can't and won't continue. Are we going to demand control of this threat, or let it roll over us? https://geoffreydeihl.substack.com/p/degrowth-the-vision-we-must-demand
@lyda I knew that night in 1992 that she was dead right and that she would be vilified. As usual, humans lived DOWN to expectations. Wouldn't be surprised if a wee bit of her blood is on mainstream society's hands. I believed her then and said so then, and I STILL feel shame.
@lyda I'm a Gen-X atheist and yeah I fully supported Sinéad. Tales of Priests/Nuns abusing kids were not uncommon and were starting to come out in mainstream media. I've been saying for a while the world owed her an apology. Sadly she never got it.
Severian 
@lyda beautiful