WHAT is this country coming to? There was a time, not too long ago, when our homes were safe and we did not need alarms or mortice locks. We could walk the streets and countryside without fear of being mugged. Our children could play out without fear of being molested.

In those days, most people were God-fearing in that they cared for others and had respect for authority. Only those who were in the service of others worked on Sunday and the rest of us made it a special family day.

What a long way we have come in the last 50 years. We have lost so much in the name of progress. Political correctness makes us think twice before using certain words which slipped naturally off the tongue with no malice intended and yet, the foul language which can often be heard used by schoolchildren and on television escapes criticism.

I think all this correctness has gone too far when I hear that nursing staff are no longer allowed to ask for a patient's religion. The result being that the hospital chaplains have no way of knowing where their services might be required unless patient or relatives make their feelings known.

There used to be a simple method of noting religious preferences on the admission form and those who did not want a visit from the clergy simply left it blank. Now, they have the upper hand and it is the Christians who will suffer.

Is this a devious way of making the hospital chaplains redundant? It is certain to make their work more difficult.

Come on, health authorities, think again on this one and give us back what should be our right in a Christian country.

EILEEN EASTHAM (Mrs), Milton Close, Darwen.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.