During the invocation of the session of Congress on Sunday, Missouri Congressman Emanuel Cleaver (D) ended his prayer with a resounding “Amen and  A Woman.” (as covered by Nick Arama)  Quickly the right piled on this as a stupid move, but it is just the latest in the many ways the left has moved further into the hysterical and laughable territory of perpetual offense.  It seems that everyone everywhere is offended by everything.  It has moved from a fight for a diverse but equal population to the suppression of anything with which someone disagrees.

The slippery slope we have headed down started with some understandable complaints around the casual use of words like “gay” and “retarded.” (My computer even tried to PC me with changing this word to “regarded”).  While turning someone’s sexual preferences, ethnic background, religious beliefs, or genetic issues into a derogatory term should be offensive, what you don’t get to do is a demand that others change anything about those things to conform to your offense. You have the right to be offended.  You have to right to think that I am an insensitive jerk but what you don’t get to do is change the definitions of things to comply with your demands. For instance, if someone has a belief that you are less than them… subhuman… for being of a particular ethnic background, that is absolutely racism and should be weeded from our society from the very root.  If however, someone, likes a particular type of shoe or soup, that is not racist, regardless if you want it to be or not.  A white person wearing mocassins or having braids in their hair is neither racism nor cultural appropriation.  It is simply their personal preference.  Live with it.

I am proud of my 11-year-old son for being the young man he is becoming in today’s society.  I have taught him the highest levels of respect and tolerance.  He will tell you that I have even gotten on his case for things that I have felt have bordered on “intolerance” when I have heard him or his friends say something offensive.  Even in his youth and immaturity, he too makes fun of cancel culture, mockingly correcting statements I make for political correctness.   One day during his class last year, his teacher demanded an apology from him regarding something he said, to which she took offense.  Let’s be clear here:  This wasn’t that my son intentionally insulted another student or used a slur of some kind.  He used some gendered language (calling his classmates “guys” as a collective) and she demanded he apologize to his female classmates.  At the time he did, however, I asked him if he meant to offend anyone.  There obviously was no offense meant.  Are we prepared to continue down this path where literally all language, is offensive?

What about the omission of certain words?  For instance, my son’s collective “guys” comment wasn’t calling anyone a name, in particular, rather it was the omission of “gals” or “girls.”  Does that mean my son is sexist?  Is the omission of a certain word in itself, prejudiced?

And if it isn’t how is the omission of a word, that doesn’t even need to be included, prejudiced?  When the good Congressman stated amen and “a woman,” had he not included the latter, would be have been considering sexist?  Is he more “woke” for creating a word, that doesn’t have anything to do with “amen” in the first place?

This idea of continued worship at the altar of “wokeness” has led to us becoming collective cowards.
Cancel culture is the single most toxic thing to ever happen to our society.  It has taken our freedom, requiring that we comply with some ridiculous set of everchanging and ever-narrowing standards, to avoid offending a set of people, that may not even care in the first place.  I, for one, am over it.  Let’s cancel, cancel-culture.

So, can I get an amen?