As the 117^th Congress began, lawmakers found that the rules were changed regarding gender. Among the “bold reforms” ushered in by Speaker Nancy Pelosi was to “honor all gender identities by changing pronouns and familial relationships in the House rules to be gender neutral.”

In short, as a concession to the demands of the LGBT-and-so-on lobby, the 117^th Congress will no longer recognize terms deemed to be non-inclusive such as he, she, mother and father.

And Representative Emanuel Cleaver took it a step further – right off a cliff and into the land of the crazy – when he tried to make the opening prayer for the session gender neutral.

At the end of the prayer, Cleaver added to the traditional “amen” by saying:

Amen and a-woman.

Members of the National Center’s Project 21 black leadership network who are well-versed in religion are commenting on the silliness taking place in the Capitol.

Project 21 member Donna Jackson, who holds a degree in divinity, said:

In a world where putting race over faith has become commonplace, it appears God has become little more than a political tool for the left.

Our forefathers rightfully kept the church and state separate so we could feel free to worship and pursue a relationship with God without political interference. In today’s society, it appears liberal politicians want to take that away.

Representative Cleaver proved even the most accomplished individual can be just another political opportunist. He reduced a revered word from Hebrew that has survived thousands of years into a means of pushing identity politics.

“Amen” has nothing to do with gender. But liberals apparently want to both rewrite history and redefine the words that have been so important to us so they might better control our culture.

And Project 21 member Derryck Green, who holds a doctorate in theology and spiritual leadership, added:

Emanuel Cleaver – a former chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, who led the prayer over the opening of the 117th Congress – was an embarrassment.

Though Cleaver is purportedly a minister in the United Methodist Church, and despite his prayer sounding Christian, it was not. Instead, it was rooted in – and reflective of – secular, politically correct and all-inclusive wokeness.

In ending his prayer, Cleaver appealed to the monotheistic God. But he also appealed to the Hindu god Brahma and to the “god known by many different names by many different faiths.” What god was Cleaver praying to, exactly? The God of the Bible? The “main” god of every culture? To many gods of many cultures? And it begs the question as to who or what god does he want to answer his prayer?

As if his polytheistic prayer wasn’t enough, Cleaver ended his silly invocation by saying, “Amen… and a-woman.”

In Hebrew, “amen” simply means “so shall it be.”

But Cleaver is so woke — and, he thought, clever with a wink-and-nod to his fellow-anointed — that he not only gendered a non-gendered word but doubled-down by including a feminized endorsement that has no meaning or importance in Christian intercession whatsoever.

It only has meaning in the secularity of identity politics.

This “prayer” was to the gods of diversity and multiculturalism. It should be treated as such.

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