It's baffling to me that this was even an issue. The reactions in this thread were to the story as it was told so for the moment, let's assume that the description of events happened exactly as described. A Prayer was offered, it was declined, end of story. Nothing was forced. If she had offered a sandwich and the person was a vegetarian and declined, would she be accused of forcing her carnivorous views on the patient? Most likely not. If she were offered a glass of milk and was told no because the patient was lactose intolerant, would she have been fired for forcing her dairy position on the patient? Not so much… But as soon as religion enters into the fray, the same offer, without any pressure, just a simple question brings out anger and accusations of forced prayer as if she had held a gun to her head. I understand that on many levels this type of thing makes people feel like their space is being intruded upon but let's not forget that she did not force the issue and the patient herself said in the complaint that it didn't bother her but it might bother other people which is why she complained. If offers like this are vilified to the point of losing one's job then where does it stop? If people have to fear loss of employment then it could diminish offers of help of any kind to the point where we will all be on our own. I heard it said that what if the person doesn't feel like they have the right to say no for fear that they wouldn't get the appropriate care. Has there been any evidence that her care level dropped for those who refused the offer of a prayer?

I am a Christian. If someone is in need, I will pray for them, it is what I do and yes I will offer to pray with someone…it is who I am. But I am constantly told that I need to stop being who I am to appease those that disagree. If someone forced the issue I would agree that they have gone too far but if I make an offer to pray and it is refused, then both the person who I made the offer to and I would have been true to themselves…what is wrong with that?

Frank