R-rated movies lessen importance of religion

Baylor University study finds that certain films affect faith for youth

A University in Waco, Tex. conducted a study showing that watching R-rated movies cuts down on church attendance, and decreases importance of faith for young people. Photo: Baylor University website.

A recently conducted survey by Baylor University in Waco, Tex., shows that viewing R-rated movies  leads to decreased church attendance as well as lower influence of faith among young people.

The survey included over 2000 subjects with varying degrees of faith and took place over the years 2003-2008.

A doctoral candidate at the university, Phil Davignon, said that "watching R-rated movies also did not have any effect on their 'selective acceptance' of their faith -- that is, whether they thought it was all right to 'pick and choose' teachings without accepting the faith as a whole." 

The article also includes statistics from the study.

Only 13.2 percent who indicated that their faith is "extremely important" to them claimed that none of the movies they watch are R-rated, while nearly 21 percent of those whose faith was "extremely important" said that most movies they view are rated R. Of those whose faith was "very important," 31 percent claimed that most of the movies they view are rated R.

While those percentages are lower than those whose faith is "not at all important," it still represents a sizable percentage of the respondents whose faith is important to them, Davignon said.

"Watching R-rated movies is prevalent among religious and non-religious young people," he said. "Nearly everyone watches them."

The  full story is available on the Baylor University website.