Chris Cole FRSA

There has been a lot in the national press about faith issues in the last few months, and it has stirred up some debate - the case of nurse Caroline Petrie, who was suspended earlier this year for offering to pray for a patient (she has since been re-instated), is just one example.

Caroline Petrie has been a nurse since 1985, and in keeping with her profession, in my opinion showed a caring attitude towards an elderly patient, who she offered prayer to. The patient did not accept the offer, but neither did she complain, and Mrs Petrie did not force prayer on her. The complaint seems to have come from one of Mrs Petrie's colleagues. And it was summed up in the words of her bosses who said 'As a nurse you are required to uphold the reputation of your profession. Your NMC (Nursing Midwifery Council) code states that "you must demonstrate a personal and professional commitment to equality and diversity." and "you must not use your professional status to promote causes that are not related to health."

The case prompted one Bishop, the Rt Rev Michael Nazir-Ali, (the Bishop of Rochester), to say that he was "concerned that the Christian faith was becoming increasingly marginal in places such as hospitals, that owe their origins to Christianity".

The founding values of our British society, and of most Western democracies, are Christian. Christian values have been the bedrock of a caring society, and they have shaped and protected a determined tolerance that welcomes diversity. Yet now, the Christian faith is being marginalised itself because it does not seem to fit the boxes of political correctness.

It seems crazy to marginalise a faith whose essential teachings include 'do to others what you would have them do to you', to 'love God, and love your neighbour as yourself', and whose Founder illustrated the point of loving our neighbour with a story about helping and embracing our cultural 'enemies' when they are in distress (the parable of the Good Samaritan). What's to marginalise?

Jesus not only prayed for the sick, He healed them. He was loved by the broken, the lost, the sick, the vulnerable and the marginalised. Even some influential folks loved him too!

But he was hated by many of the religious authorities of his time, who saw in him a genuine love and power and freedom that they themselves did not possess. They were threatened by his popularity and worried about their own positions. And so they tried to silence him on a number of occasions. Their efforts always back-fired, and the good news of the love of God continued to be told in word and deed, as it has been for the last two thousand years.

Let's hope and pray for common sense to prevail in these difficult days. Faith, and other virtues like Hope and Courage are needed by us all. Prayer is the the most significant, and the simplest way we have of relating to God and asking for His help. It is what many people do almost instinctively when times are tough, or even when things are going so well that we want to thank someone. Those who have benefited from Christian prayer have a desire to share that benefit, or at least offer it, to their neighbours. Should that desire be quenched?

This article was originally published in the Plymouth Shopper, a group of 7 localised community newspapers produced by Cornerstone Vision, reaching 62,000 homes every month in Plymouth. Each edition carries positive news stories and features, and provides local businesses, community groups and organisations with a very localised media platform to reach their own area.