The new rules of procedure introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives this session prohibit the use of gender-specific words, and Democratic Congressman Emanuel Cleaver, a pastor, led the opening prayer of the new session by adding “A-women” to “A-men” at the end of the prayer, causing a backlash from many conservatives.
According to the Independent and Forsyth News, Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat, introduced new rules of procedure after she was re-elected speaker of the House of Representatives for the new session, including a change to gender-neutral words and a ban on using words with gender connotations, such as man, woman, he, she, etc., in order to respect the gender identity of different people.
At the beginning of the session, Cleaver, as a Methodist minister, was invited to lead the congregation in prayer at the beginning of the session. And as the benediction drew to a close, Cleaver said, “We pray in the name of the one true God …… Amen (A-men) and A-women (and A-women).”
Conservatives point out that the word “amen” first came from Aramic and Hebrew, and was introduced into English through Greek and Latin, meaning “so be it”.
In addition to invoking the one true God, Cleaver also mentioned the Hindu deity Brahma in his prayer, which also drew a lot of criticism from Cleaver.
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