I AM glad that Caroline Petrie, the nurse suspended for offering to pray for a patient, has been reinstated. The original reason given by the authorities for the suspension was that by praying Christian prayers she was not showing proper respect for “diversity”. I think we should look into the background to this sort of judgement.

I was in hospital frequently 40 years ago and I remember that when the day shift of nurses came on at 8am the first thing they did was gather round the ward sister’s desk and bow their heads in prayer.

Ah, but things are different today: we have a “multicultural society” and so Christian prayers are not appropriate in this new and diverse setting. But the truth is that very few members of non-Christian faiths object to Christians saying prayers for them. In fact, I can give many examples where such prayers are warmly welcomed.

I am Chaplain to six livery companies in the City of London. Membership of all includes people of all faiths and none. Nobody objects when I say Christian Grace before lunches and dinners: in fact, it is expected.

And when a liveryman of any faith is ill, I phone or write condolences with the assurance that his name will be put on the prayer list at my church. Again, no one has ever objected.

If I were ill, I should be grateful if a Muslim, a Jew or a Hindu told me he was praying for me. I would be just as grateful if an atheist said that while he could not in conscience pray for me, nevertheless he sent me all good wishes for a swift recovery.

This recent practice of objecting to Christian prayers in public places where there is a variety of religions does not come from religious people, but from the active clique of aggressive secularists who hate Christianity and would like to see it die out in Britain.

That there is such aggressive secularism is not in doubt. Look at the objections to calling Christmas by its proper name and insisting it be referred to as “winter holiday”.

The abolition in some schools of the traditional nativity play. The loud propaganda which everywhere insists that the Christian faith is past its sell-by date.

These attacks do not come from devotees of other religions, but the aggressive secularists deceitfully use the excuse of other faiths’ sensitivities as a stick with which to beat Christianity.

The secular aggression is worse than that.

Remember Jerry Springer: The Musical, in which Jesus was presented as a sexual pervert wearing a nappy; and there were more than 3,000 blasphemies on his name? The producers of that show would not dream of following it up with a sequel called, for example, Mohammad: The Teenage Years. And not just because they would be afraid of a Muslim backlash, but because it is only Christianity they wish to insult and destroy.

What are the reasons for this new secular aggression? I think it is part of the general despising of our nation’s history. Everything traditional comes under the hammer. No opportunity is lost to sneer at the monarchy. We even apologised for the Crusades – an activity as pointless as an Italian ice cream salesman apologising for the fall of the Roman Empire.

I believe in diversity, too. But I believe this should involve toleration for the Christian faith which has shaped our nation for a thousand years.