The Derby Fostering Case

There have already been a number of responses to this case - some of them more kneejerk than others - but I would urge caution in any response to cases like this. First, I don't think it is a good idea to respond to the case simply on the basis of the reporting in the media. Inevitably the media takes what is a pretty complex legal opinion and boils it down to an easily digestible (and not always accurate) headline. Secondly, there seems to be some evidence that some of the legal support for the couple at the centre of the case has come from Christian groups who are quite keen to take numerous cases to court simply so that they can cry 'persecution' when the judgment goes against them. Not all of these groups are immune from using the same kinds of tactics as the popular press if it appears to suit their cause.
I have glanced (and only glanced) at the judgment. It is long and complex and no firm principle in law seems to have been established by it. The common law of England and Wales regarding fostering appears not to have been altered by this judgment although the Judeo-Christian basis of the legal system in England and Wales does seem to have been called into question by it.
I don't want to be accused of making light of this case. There are some serious concerns that it raises, not least the implicit rejection of any real objective basis for making law. But I think that to suggest that this was the day when Bible-believing Christians stopped being able to foster or adopt children is wide of the mark.
The days of the marginalisation of the church and the Christian message are here and they will continue but let's be careful not to be led into using the weapons of the world - media spin, excessive political lobbying and heavily funded court cases etc. to fight for the cause of the gospel.
Instead let us remain faithful to the truth of God's saving grace in Christ, speak out for the poor, dispossessed and marginalised and depend on God's power which, according to the apostle Paul is made perfect in our weakness.