What is your stand about Religion plays a significant role in influencing sexuality.

The relationship between religion and sexuality involves a sexual morality, understood not so much as part of the general morality or common to all, but as the part of religious morality that implies restrictions on human sexual behavior. It varies enormously in time between one and another epoch, as well as between different civilizations or social norms, the standards of conduct of societies in terms of sexuality, are usually linked to religious beliefs of one religion or another.

In accordance with this, most religions have seen the need to address the question of an inherent role of sexuality in human interactions. Different religions have uneven codes of sexual morality, which regulate sexual activity or assign normative values ??to certain actions or thoughts laden with sexual content.

Scientific evidence suggests that, despite their religious commitment, religious adolescents engage in sexual activities. An exploratory study was carried out with a non-experimental design, of a cross-correlational type to examine the relationship of religion with the sexual practices of adolescents. 251 students, ages 15 to 18, were surveyed in six public schools in the Metropolitan Region of San Juan, Puerto Rico. 83.1% of adolescents reported having a religion: 52.9% belong to the Catholic religion and 40.4% said they were evangelical Protestant. The findings reveal that the religiosity of the participants did not prevent them from engaging in the following sexual practices: masturbation; fondling of breasts; brushing your body with that of another individual; touching the penis or vagina; and watch erotic movies. There were differences by gender and religious denomination. Catholic and Protestant males practice masturbation, in contrast to religious females. Sexual relations (intercourse) are practiced by 20.4% of the religious participants, which exposes them to the risks of sexually transmitted diseases, unwanted pregnancies and therefore, to all the spiritual and physical implications and social that they entail. Sexuality has traditionally been considered a taboo subject that has generated social, economic, political and personal repercussions.According to the research carried out by Beltrán (2011), 71% of the Colombian population are Catholics and, within this percentage, 61% are practicing Catholics. Knowing the social impact that the Catholic religion has had during the last decades in this country, some studies have tried to explore how religion, as a social construct that influences decision-making, values ??and beliefs of people, can delimit in individuals personal and interpersonal aspects. Religious practices, characterized by having a traditionalist view of sexual activity, are still considered a predictive factor in adolescent sexual behaviors. In Mexico, it was found that young believers who practiced the Catholic religion had a more conservative sexual behavior than non-practicing Catholic believers (Vargas et al., 2010). However, in the United States, it was identified that the degree of religiosity reported by young people can delay the start of their sexual activity or, on the contrary, promote both sexual practices without a condom and negative attitudes around the use of contraceptive methods (Ahrold et al. al., 2011; Rostosky, Wilcox, Wright and Randall, 2004). In the same way, it was found that the majority of young people who started their sexual life decided not to use a condom to avoid breaking the norms they promoted in their religion.

Step-by-step explanation

Religion is a system of beliefs, customs and symbols established around an idea of ??divinity or the sacred, doctrines formed by a set of principles, beliefs and practices on existential, moral and spiritual issues. Religion plays an extremely significant role in the influence of sexuality, it is linked to the sexual behavior of human beings, slowing down, postponing and reducing the first sexual relationship. The function of religion is to consolidate a system of values ??that allows, on the one hand, the cohesion of the social group based on a common project, and on the other, to create a certain degree of spiritual satisfaction through faith to overcome suffering and achieve happiness.

All religions have their bases and foundations in symbolic / historical stories called myths, understanding as myth a story that explains the origin of life, the justification of its state and its future projection.

All religions are supported by different currents of thought that try to explain who we are and why we have come into the world.

In cultures with writing, religions are based on texts of a sacred nature, which summon their followers around the same spiritual community. understand the influence of religion on decision-making about sexuality in practicing Catholics, shows, for example, the motivations for not starting their sexual life are related to love towards God and not turning their relationships into a sexual act, while for initiating it were associated with exploration and spiritual maturity. In conclusion, religion influences the motivations that they have to start their sexual life or not.