by Edward Thorne

Created on: August 05, 2009   Last Updated: August 10, 2009

Should Christians go to R-rated Movies?

The question of whether a Christian should go to R-rated movies, while seemingly quite simplistic, actually addresses the age old question of what it means to live a Christian life. I would say that the rating of a movie does not matter much at all, but that the content of the movie matters much more. Under the guise of 'entertainment', or even 'serious adult drama' a movie of any rating may be truly hurtful to us in spirit, both as individuals, and as a society. This is what should concern the Christian.

One of the characteristics of a Christian life is temperence in all things. Here is what no less a notable than Matthew Henry had to say:

"We must be moderate in desiring and using the good things of natural life, such as meat, drink, clothes, sleep, recreations, and credit; an inordinate desire after these is inconsistent with an earnest desire after God and Christ; and those that take more of these than is due can render to neither God nor man what is due to them."

It is a difficult lesson to learn that even a thing which seems good, taken in too large doses, may harm us in unexpected ways. Entertainment is certainly one of these. For example, I have been a fan of 'Monster Movies' all of my life. I loved the 'Addams Family' when it was first aired. I collected plastic figures of the Mummy and Frankenstein, and even built the models of the famous monsters of filmland. I found mundane life to be rather disappointing and boring at best, and when it was at its worst, well, the emotions of a child are the most exquisite pain to be found. I was also smart enough to recognize that in order to replicate the same excitements, the volume had to be turned up louder, but there was a limit to what a body and mind could withstand. I was turned away from an 'X' rated movie - "Midnight Cowboy" with Jon Voight and Dustin Hoffman. It made me feel pretty grown up to be admitted to 'R' rated movies at age 14. ("If", starring Malcolm McDowell, and "Last Summer" with Barbara Hersey, if you must know...) Those were actual movies, though, with real stories and no special effects. It is pretty much impossible to tell from my side if those experiences had any harmful effect on me.

It was possible, in those days, to guide one's children away from the worst in the movies. Meaningless sex, torture, and general debasement of all that makes us human. It used to be that these were used as a spice, to shock the system, suitable for adult consumption

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