Religious Freedom In Social Work

In the social work profession, it is important to understand how religion and spirituality can impact a client. One’s spirituality and religion can have great implications on how a practice issue, such as religious freedom and the “best” interest of a child, should be assessed. Without an understanding of how spirituality and religion are expressed throughout varying religious groups, clients will not be receiving competent services. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the practice issue of religious freedom and what is “best” for a child while incorporating aspects of both the profession and the right to express religious freedom. The paper will also analyze how the separation of the church and state are handled in this situation, as

In regard to child abuse, religious values and social policy can conflict with one another due to extreme religious beliefs or taking the Bible or another religious text literally (Stout-Miller & Miller, 1997). For example, Psalm 137:9 reads “Blessed shall he be who takes your little ones and dashed them against the rock” (NIV, 2011). An individual who takes the Bible literally may actually take his or her child and dash him or her against a rock.

The issue of religious freedom regarding abuse toward children rests in the legislative bill, H.Res.514- Protecting Religious Freedom in America (Congress.gov, 2015). The bill “expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that the U.S Government: (1) should not infringe upon the ability of American Citizens to act in accordance with their sincerely held religious beliefs, and (2) condemns any behavior by the states that limits the ability of individuals to express such beliefs” (2015). Therefore, according to H.Res.514, there is no protection for children regarding abuse and religious

A worldview can be portrayed as a picture of how one perceives the world around him or her. One’s worldview can impact how an individual determines what is “meaningful, what is worth doing, and which causes may require sacrifice” (Valk, 2012). According to Valk, every worldview, in one way or another, embraces freedom, justice, and equality. The worldview of Christianity consists of the idea that humans were created in the image of God, who is infinite. Humanity is also responsible for engaging in the community, doing what is just, not necessarily