Democrat faith minister starts US Congress activity praying to many gods, using “amen” as a gender word

Emanuel Cleaver, Democrat Lawmaker and ordained Methodist minister has created contoversy following the opening prayer for 117th Congress in the U.S.

Emanuel Cleaver, Democrat Lawmaker and ordained Methodist minister.

On Sunday, Cleaver, known as a “believer and pastor”, opened the first session of the 117th U.S. Congress by praying not only to the to the Christian God, but also to numerous gods to whom people of other faiths pray.

He credited “Brahma,” a four-faced Hindu deity, as well as “‘god’ known by many names by many different faiths.” But what made the situation get hotter was the fact the minister used the religious word “amen” into some sort of commentary on sex and gender.

Cleaver went on to reference the Old Testament passage of Numbers 6:24-26, praying, “May the God who created the world and everything in it bless us and keep us. May the Lord make His face to shine upon us and be gracious unto us. May the Lord lift up the light of His countenance on us and give us peace: peace in our families, peace across this land, and — dare I ask, O Lord — peace even in this chamber, now and evermore.”

READ ALSO: Biden didn’t know how to pronounce the word “Psalms” in his thanksgiving speech (VIDEO)

But his prayer took a very odd turn when he included other deities in the prayer, closing it with “Amen and awoman”.

People didn’t wait to express their point of view in relation to what Cleaver said in the prayer. The word has absolutely no meaning as it relates to one’s sex or gender identity. The word “amen,” historically invoked at the end of a prayer, has its roots in a Hebrew word that means “certainty” or “truth.”

In the Greek Old Testament, the word “amen” is usually translated to mean “so be it,” according to Britannica. In English translations of Scripture, it is typically understood to mean “truly” or “verily”:

Cleaver, who spent dozens of years serving as a pastor at St. James United Methodist Church in Kansas City, Missouri, have to know it.

However, on Monday, CBN News reached out to the politician for comment about his prayer. In an emailed statement , and he said his prayer “has been misinterpreted.”

“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,” he said. “I believe prayers to be a personal conversation between El Shaddai and the invocator. With this conversation, in the presence of the 117th House of Representatives, I concluded with a light-hearted pun in recognition of the record number of women who will be representing the American people in Congress during this term as well as in recognition of the first female Chaplain of the House of Representatives whose service commenced this week. I personally find these historic occasions to be blessings from God for which I am grateful.” 

“Rather than reflecting on my faithful requests for community healing and reversion from our increasingly tribal tendencies, it appears that some have latched on to the final word of this conversation in an attempt to twist my message to God and demean me personally. In doing so, they have proven one point of my greater message—that we are all “soiled by selfishness, perverted by prejudice and inveigled by ideology,” Cleaver continued.

“Tonight, I will ask God yet again to give our nation the awareness of our fallible nature, the strength to overcome these terrifyingly tribal times, and the courage to come together in an effort to heal the nation,” he concluded.

Source: CBN News

Facebook Comments

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR