A new study suggested watching R-rated movies could lead to a decrease in church attendance and less focus on faith in young people.
R-rated movies were not found the have an effect on "selective acceptance" of faith, meaning believing some parts of their religion and not others, a Baylor University news release reported.
Baylor University is a private christian college, so christianity was most likely the focus of this study.
The majority of young adults hold similar religious beliefs as their parents, but are the least religiously active demographic in the U.S.
The researchers studied National Study of Youth and Religion survey results from over 2,000 adolescents, young adults, and parents.
The study subjects had varied levels of belief, but almost all were exposed to at least some R-rated movies.
Of the subjects that said faith was "extremely important" in their lives, 13.2 said they never watched R-rated movies while 21 percent said most movies they watched were rated R. Thirty-one percent of the subjects who said their faith was "very important" viewed mostly R-rated movies.
"Watching R-rated movies is prevalent among religious and non-religious young people," Phil Davignon, a doctoral candidate in sociology in Baylor's College of Arts & Sciences, said. "Nearly everyone watches them."
R-rated movies contain adult content, and those below the age of 17 cannot view them without having a guardian present.
Davignon believes besides adult content, R-rated movies tend to contain themes that violate christian values.
"Adolescents and young adults base their movie choices on their personal preferences, but R-rated movies seem to influence them beyond their initial attitudes towards religion," Davignon said. "Viewing R-rated movies was damaging to religious faith even after accounting for the importance of religion in one's family, peer influence and parental monitoring of media, among other factors."
Having non-religious friends is believed to reduce religious devotion, but parents were able to reverse those changes and increase church attendance in their children.
Davignon did admit the movie "The Passion of the Christ" would not harm christian faith, despite the fact it is rated R.
