On January 3, Representative Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.) ended the opening prayer in the House of Representatives with the words “amen and awoman,” causing social media to erupt.
Cleaver, who is a pastor, called for “peace” in his prayer and concluded by saying, “We ask it in the name of the monotheistic God, Brahma, and ‘God’ known by many names by many different faiths. Amen and awoman.”
When you say a prayer, you now have to say amen and awoman pic.twitter.com/0cStIiIrZs
— Daily Wire (@realDailyWire) January 3, 2021
The alteration to the traditional prayer ending sparked a series of reactions on Twitter.
“Amen is a Biblical Hebrew word,” Ben Shapiro, editor emeritus of The Daily Wire tweeted, adding that it means “‘may it be so.’ It has nothing to do with the word ‘man’ or ‘woman’ because it is FROM HEBREW. This is some of the dumbest s*** I have ever seen in my life.”
"Amen" is a Biblical Hebrew word: אמן. It is a word simply meaning "may it be so." It has nothing to do with the word "man" or "woman" because it is FROM HEBREW. This is some of the dumbest s*** I have ever seen in my life. https://t.co/O4JhcHwywv
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) January 4, 2021
Fleur Hassan-Nahoum, the deputy mayor Jerusalem, similarly tweeted that “to change it to awoman which means nothing is the most moronic thing ever.”
The word Amen in Hebrew means we agree…. that’s where it comes from in prayer. To change it to awoman which means nothing is the most moronic thing ever
— פלר חסן נחום Fleur Hassan-Nahoum (@FleurHassanN) January 4, 2021
Many Twitter users used the word alteration for jokes and meme fodder.
— Dr. Richard Harambe (@Richard_Harambe) January 4, 2021
WHEN AMEN LOVES AWOMAN
ᶦᵗ ᵐᵃᵏᵉˢ pic.twitter.com/dmZf69IFwv
— Gretchen Lynn (@Bubola) January 4, 2021
Biden Promises Nationwide Mask Mandate And Womandate https://t.co/tI8ENvM9sW
— The Babylon Bee (@TheBabylonBee) January 4, 2021
Ron Kampeas, the Washington bureau chief for Jewish Telegraphic Agency, tweeted sarcastically that Cleaver’s word choice “is definitely the scandal that need[s] to preoccupy Congress this week.”
Yes, “A-women” is definitely the scandal that need to preoccupy Congress this week
— Ron Kampeas (@kampeas) January 4, 2021
The “awomen” remark comes after Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi proposed a series of rule changes that included using only gender-neutral terms like “parent,” “child” and “sibling.”
