I am increasingly concerned at the way in which some Christians in the UK are being treated, purely because of their Christian faith. The most recent situation concerns Caroline Petrie, a married mother of two, who has been suspended, without pay, from her job as a community nurse, simply for offering to pray with an elderly patient ("Suspension for nurse who offers to pray for her patients", The Herald, February 2).

I am increasingly concerned at the way in which some Christians in the UK are being treated, purely because of their Christian faith. The most recent situation concerns Caroline Petrie, a married mother of two, who has been suspended, without pay, from her job as a community nurse, simply for offering to pray with an elderly patient ("Suspension for nurse who offers to pray for her patients", The Herald, February 2).

The patient was not offended, but claims to have been concerned that others might be. My reaction is that others should have been left to make any complaint they had.

This took place in mid-December, and Mrs Petrie has been left for all of that time with the uncertainty of whether she will still have a job in her chosen, caring profession until the outcome of an inquiry.

It is a sad state of affairs when the offer to pray for someone is treated in such a harsh way. I am old enough to remember when the UK was, at least nominally, a Christian country.

Andrea Williams, the founder and Director of the Christian Legal Centre (which is supporting Mrs Petrie), has said: "It is of huge concern that Christian citizens, whose desire is to do their jobs well, are increasingly being silenced and pushed out of the public square' because of equality and diversity policies. It is extraordinary that these policies, which purport to ensure tolerance, are ushering in a new form of censorship and intolerance which should concern us all."

I can only agree, and express the hope that common sense will prevail, and that Mrs Petrie will be fully re-instated. Don't tell the North Somerset Primary Care Trust, which has taken this ridiculous attitude, but I'll be praying for Caroline.

Rev C Brian Ross, Motherwell.

I read with interest about Caroline Petrie, the nurse suspended for offering to pray with a patient.

I worked as a doctor for four years and the only patients I ever received thank-you cards from were those with whom I had prayed. This may be an unfortunate reflection on my medical skills or it may reflect the fact that the majority of patients are aware of spiritual realities and needs, and open to healthcare workers discussing them.

How terrible it would be if professionals were reduced to treating the disease and not the person.

Dr Euan Dodds, St George's-Tron Church, Glasgow.

Ron Ferguson puts it very well when he writes that: "Institutional religion is the glory and the scandal, the bandage and the wound". ("Time to honour our overlooked Holocaust martyr", The Herald, February 3).

However, he seems to imply that we have to put up with flaws of institutional religion because we need the benefits it can offer. Are not these flaws a sign that we need to get beyond religion altogether and find other forms of invoking the human spirit?

We surely need forms that embrace the scientific view rather than being at loggerheads with it. Such forms should not be dominated by an authoritarian hierarchy allegedly in possession of divine knowledge. We need no longer believe uncritically in the exhortations of holy scripture or submit to ritual and ceremony.

New thinking is required.

Dr Alistair J Sinclair, Glasgow.