inquiring reporter Elizabeth Collings PIRITUALLY SPEAKIN 12 - Sunday, May 13, 1990 - North Shore News ARE DOCTORS paid enough? Doctors argue they need to be paid higher fees to be able to keep pace with the ris- ing cost of living, and on Tuesday North Shore doctors staged a four-hour study session to publicize their point. The government has offered a 3.5 per cent increase to the Medical Services Plan budget, but doctors say the in- crease amounts to no increase when population growth Sulie Sangster North Vancouver It’s hard to balance the cost of good medical care versus what the govern- ment gives us. Maybe it’s up to consumers to also help foot the bill. Kellie Marshall North Vancouver I think doctors should be able to get what they’re worth or they’re not go- ing to want to do it. Look what they put into it. Yes, I Diana Sorrentino North Vancouver do. deserve it with ali the hours they have to put in. and inflation are factored in. Local doctors say the walkout was staged to get the attention of the ‘‘con- sumers’’ of health care. But some people — brought up with the traditional image of a fat cat medical profession — find it hard to believe that their family doctor isn’t making enough money. Jack Bennett North Vancouver They do Definitely. Why not? Everybody else is getting fee increases. I wouldn’t like to see them walk out but what can you do? Do you support fee increase for doctors? roA Brian Gardner North Vancouver They’re the people who look after us when we get sick so they should be paid accordingly. Same with teachers and nurses — they should all be paid more. Goddess worshippers shun patriarchal faiths THE WORD ‘mother’? is enjoy- ing a renewed respect in our socie- ty, and not just because today is Mother’s Day. By PEGGY TRENDELL-WHITTAKER News Reporter For a growing number of people in spiritual and environmental cir- cles, ‘Mother Earth” has become what she regards as its oppression of women. “I know the feeling of being shut out, to not be able to par- ticipate fully in the religious prac- tices,’’ she said in a recent inter- view from her home. ‘In all other areas of life, women have made huge strides. It is no accident that religion is one of the last areas to conie around. Patriarchy had its roots in religion.”’ NEWS photo Noli Lucente LOCAL resident Alice Ratzlaff shows a fertility charm to her five-mon- th-old son Julian. tising feminist spirituality. an increasingly powerful symbol that represents the nurturing spirit that sustains the interconnected web of life on this planet. Religions based on the worship of the Goddess and the celebration of nature’s cycle are not new — in the ancient world, the Goddess was worshipped for thousands of years before the advent of powerful male gods such as Zeus, and, later, the God of the Old Testament. But such religions are new to the Westem people of today, who have for centuries lived in cultures in which male gods are worshipped and, as a result, in which males and masculine attributes are often valued over females’. Alice Ratzlaff of North Van- couver was brought up a fun- damentalist Christian, but now engages in a feminist spiricual practice. Ratzlaff left the church of her childhood because she didn’t like Ratzlaff is one of a growing number of people prac- The goal of many goddess wor- shippers is to return to a religion in which the central principles revolve around sacred images of birth and the sustaining of life. “I was taught that women were responsible for sin being in the world,’’ Ratzlaff said. Man’s role, she said, was to tesist and control this sexuality and ARDAGH HUNTER TURNER Barristers & Solicitors a Personal Injury AFTER HOURS FREE INITIAL CONSULTATION 645.8989 [ 986-4366 | #300-1401 LONSDALE NORTH VANCOUVER, BC. keep it in its place. Current literature on feminist spirituality backs up Ratzlaff’s statements with examples of misogynist attitudes or practices. Fer example, in the third cen- tury, the Christian writer Ter- tullian wrote that women were the “‘devil’s gateway.’? A century later, the influential Christian theologian Augustine wrote that “whether it is in a wife or a mother, it is still! Eve, the tempt- ress, that we must beware of in any woman.” Today, women cannot be or- dained in the Catholic church because, according to the Pope, they are not created in the image of Jesus Christ. While many non-church-going people might insist that a history of male dominance in Western religions does not affect their at- titude to women in society today, feminist spiritualists note that religious doctrines have been and continue to exert a great influence on our culture. Many people attempting to change these attitudes of inequality are turning to feminine images of the divine. While some feminists are working within the existing church framework, others are join- ing pagan religions and finding their spirituality in the archetypal Greek and Koman gods and god- desses, the Earth Mother or in the unnamed spirit behind the recur- ring cycle of birth and death found in the natural world. By working with a range of goddesses, who all have different strengths and characteristics, women can recapture the power that they have lost and build a healthier self-image, Ratzlaff said. FAX 986-9286 Another goal of feminist spiritualists is to build a sense of community, which Ratzlaff defines as ‘“‘people having power together, Not one person having power over the others.”’ This non-hierarchical approach extends beyond humans and into the natural world. While the Old Testament God may have given Adzm dominion over plants and animals, feminist spiritualists believe that all life is interdepen- dent and sacred. THE UNITED CHURCH OF CANADA THE NATURE AND AUTHORITY OF SCRIPTURE The Rev. Or. Victor od Pastor, Streetsville United, Mississauga, Ont. Historizn, Theologian, Author St. David’s United Church - 1525 Taylor Way, West Vancouver Tuesday, May 15, 1990 7:30 p.m. Fourth in a Series of Educational Programs on issues current in the United Church Dr. Shepherd will preach at the regular service 10:30 a.m., Si. Andrews United Church, 1044 St. Georges Ave., North Vancouver Together in Faithfulness THE CORPORATION OF THE DISTRICT EOS A: F oe OF WEST VANCOUVER SPRINKLING REGULATIONS Effective May 15 until September 15, lawn sprinkling or other irrigation of gardens and jawns is prohibited, except between the hours of 8:00 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. ” and then only as follows: Even numbered premises on even calendar days, odd-numbered premises on odd calendar days. B. Lambert, P. Eng. Director of Operations