Differences Of Tension Between Social Work And Christianity

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Social Work and Christianity
Many social workers have distinct views on religion and spirituality. Eighty-percent of all Americans report that religion and our spirituality are heavily important in their lives (Gallop, 2010). Some may say that the social work profession has held deep religious roots and that any early efforts made were in churches to end many social problems. Pressing societal issues often challenge integration within the profession, but social workers can effectively function by staying true to the social work values (Collins, 2017). As social workers, dealing with concerns of integrating Christian faith based services into professional social work practice can prove to be difficult. Complex challenges in social work arise when strongly held concepts of Christianity conflict with social work ethics and values. Social work professional values and ethics must be upheld above our own personal
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The dispute seems to be completely associated to a clash of worldviews more than rejection of religion as a whole (Ressler, 2017). Tensions exist because of the conflict among disapproving values. Tensions can arise because some topics are seen as more important than other topics. Certain topics such as sex education, homosexuality, and abortion can cause tension. For example, in Christian faith individuals are taught to remain abstinent until marriage, while during some school sex education courses individuals are taught about safe sex to prevent pregnancy. Also, an example in understanding tension towards homosexuality, it is considered a sin to the Christian faith but to society it is okay. The last example abortion is considered a woman’s right to society but in Christian faith it is also deemed not right. By engaging with groups of people whom have differing opinions, social workers can settle conflict in a way that brings people together and creates a