Reddit users sound off on a thread in defense of Irish singer

Irish singer Sinead O’Connor has been a longtime critic of the Catholic Church and as more and more scandals continue to come to light, some have wondered if O’Connor is owed some sort of an apology.

In 1992, the Irish singer made headlines when she tore up a picture of Pope John Paul II and said: “Fight the real enemy” during a performance of her song War on Saturday Night Live.

Many have deemed that moment the end of her then-blossoming American career.

Read more: Do we owe Sinéad O’Connor an apology for speaking the truth about church child abuse?

Reddit users are now responding to the notion that O’Connor deserves an apology for her public treatment over her criticisms of the Catholic Church.

One thread on the r/atheism page seems to agree that O’Connor has been wrongly persecuted for her opinions.

The top comment on the page reads:

spankadoodle: "She threw away her career to bring awareness to the issue. She deserves a hell of a lot more than an apology."

Users compared O’Connor to Colin Kaepernick, the football player who kicked off the divisive kneeling protests within the NFL and has since become a symbol for protest rights in America:

formstormin: "Sinead O’Kaepernick"

Theres_A_FAP_4_That: "Maybe nike contract?"

One commenter said they’d never have the “guts” to do what O’Connor did in speaking out:

oundhakar: "Sinead O'Connor threw away an amazing career to raise her voice. I'm almost certain I wouldn't have the guts to do that (who knows? I haven't faced the test yet). She's really someone to look up to."

Another user explained why just an apology would be “inadequate”:

star621: "An apology would be woefully inadequate. She deserves to be honored for having more courage and morals than these creeps in gowns and ritual garb who want to run our lives. She was excoriated for telling the truth and marginalized for daring to talk about the open secret of the RCC’s moral rot. I advocate for the installation of a new government for the Holy See with Ms. O’Connor as its ruler.

Has the outrageous conduct of the RCC been denounced at the gatherings at the UN? The Holy See is a member state and it needs to be on the roll call of nations other leaders regularly denounce for human rights violators. There is no nation-state in the UN with a record of genocide or participation in genocides than the Holy See, such as the one in Rwanda. It’s crimes have been ongoing for centuries, are global, and show no signs of stopping. It is a global racketeering outfit with no preference for any specific crime. Be it white collar or physical, no crime is off limits and no crime can’t be explained away by their self-asserted divine right to violate the world. Nonetheless, the world made Ms. O’Connor the villain."

Another user thinks O’Connor should have a “come back”:

Safety_Dave: "She really deserves a chance to come back. She was way ahead of her time. She had the balls to speak up while everyone else refused to see what was going on right in front of them! She put everything on the line to try and save people."

One commenter noted that not necessarily everyone owes O’Connor an apology:

Sprinklypoo: "It's a problem with our language and the ubiquitous "we". I have always been behind her and the sentiment and do not want to be included in this "we" that needs to apologize to her. We are not a homogeneous mass, but to get past the idea we have to stop thinking about things in terms of outrage and self righteousness."

Another user admits that maybe O’Connor could have approached the situation better:

6138: "I think she does, certainly, deserve an apology, but I also think that she could have done a lot more good by trying to get people on her side. All she did with her stunt about tearing up the popes picture was to alienate her and her views, people dismissed her totally. I'm Irish, and I remember it happening, you could argue in fact that it even strengthened the catholic church, because anyone making a claim of abuse was seen to be an attention-seeker or an anti-church zealot.

She could have really helped a lot of people by being more measured in how she communicated her message."

Some suggested a visit to SNL as a way of making amends:

Chromepep: "I think a second appearance of her at SNL, in this new (and more aware) landscape that we have today would be a pretty interesting way of closing off the cycle."

Many in the thread agree that actor Joe Pesci, in particular, owes O’Connor an apology. The week after O’Connor famously tore up a picture of the Pope on SNL, Pesci opened up the show by holding up a taped-together picture of the pope, saying "She's lucky it wasn't my show. Cause if it was my show, I would have gave her such a smack.”

What do you think - does Sinead O’Connor deserve an apology? Let us know in the comments!