Free Republic

The Democratic congressman who opened up the 117th Congress with a prayer that ended in “amen and awoman” has since said that awoman was meant to be a “light-hearted pun” rather than an ecclesiastical statement. After Sunday’s “awoman” prayer provoked condemnation from many conservatives and Christians on social media, Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, D-Mo., responded to critics by releasing a statement condemning those who he said “misinterpreted and misconstrued” his prayer. “I am deeply disappointed that my prayer has been misinterpreted and misconstrued by some to fit a narrative that stokes resentment and greater division among portions of our population,” the...

Rep. Emmanuel Cleaver caused a social media storm Monday, closing a public prayer with “Amen and a woman,” as if the Hebrew word meaning “let it be” was somehow gendered. Cleaver, of course, later claimed the embarrassing episode was actually “a lighthearted pun” in recognition of women, a description that might draw water on paper, but which the video clearly shows is not the case.But there’s far more than simple ignorance on display in the Democrat and Methodist pastor’s blessing of the new year’s legislative session. The prayer’s true scandal was largely ignored — and is indicative of a widespread...

A House Democrat tasked with leading the body in an opening prayer for the new Congress has gendered the word “amen.” To close a prayer he delivered from the House chamber Sunday to mark the swearing in of the 117th Congress, Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.), an ordained minister, altered the traditional “amen” to say “amen and awoman.” “May the lord lift up the light of his countenance upon us and give us peace,” Cleaver said during his two-minute invocation, “Peace in our families, peace across this land, and dare I ask o Lord, peace even in this chamber.” “We ask...

California Gov. Gavin Newsom said Thursday that 33 people have tested positive for COVID-19 and the state is currently monitoring at least 8,400 others —a day after U.S. health officials confirmed the first possible community transmission of the coronavirus in a Solano County resident.