What disturbs me most is that the myth that the wage gap is a myth has been most widely promoted by Warren Farrell (and lately quoted by every blatant misogynist).

Mr. Harper should listen to all Canadian women, and not just those (and with all due respect) whose faith promotes a submissive ideal. He has not. Nor did he listen when estimates showed that national day care could return seven dollars for every dollar invested in our children (not to mention reducing poverty and crime for future generations).

It has has barely been a generation since Nellie McClung the woman who had women legally declared persons, and helped win our right to vote has died. What would she say to Mr. Harper? “Yes Mr. Harper. Nice women do want pay equity” Or as she responded to conservative prime minister Roblin “”By nice women…you probably mean selfish women who have no more thought for the underprivileged, overworked women than a pussycat in a sunny window for the starving kitten in the street. Now in that sense I am not a nice woman for I do care.”

What do you think of the word “equality” being taken out of the mandate for the Status of Women’s Council, and recent moves to take away women’s right to sue for equal pay for equal work in Canada? Obama has long been a champion of pay equity, knowing the cost of the wage gap to the economy. Why is the Canadian government doing the very opposite of Obama with changes in the laws regarding pay equity and the right to sue over discrimination?

“If women received the same salary as men who work the same number of hours, have the same education or union status, are the same age, and live in the same region of the country, then these women’s annual family income would rise by $4,000, and poverty rates would be cut in half.”

National (American) Organization of Women, “Facts about Pay Equity,” 2002.

I try to not be a negative person and give the benefit of the doubt when and where I can, but there comes a time when women have to stand up for one another and ask questions. If our mother’s had not, women would not even have the vote today.

I am preparing a paper for another intensive class, this one on world religions, and opted to research and write on paganism. It is astonishing how many women have been led into paganism in the past 30 years through the deceptive slippery slope of feminism.

Thank you, dear professor, for opening my eyes to new questions and new ways of examining my faith. Let glory be given to the God who got you through all 45 intensive hours and who stands steadfast to answer every question and every opponent!