Religious unbelief unfurling
The persistent unbridling of religious unbelief in the United States is reflected in a 2017 Pew Research Center survey showing that more than half of our citizens couldn’t care less whether people say “Merry Christmas” or “Happy Holidays.”
The idea that political correctness is killing our nation’s Christmas traditions, the survey reveals, is a flimsy invention by a president who exaggerates imagined cultural divisions to energize his shrinking base. Ninety percent of Americans still celebrate Christmas in some fashion, but many accept that it has become more of a traditional secular than religious holiday. Fifty-five percent of Americans today celebrate Christmas as a religious holiday, down from 59 percent only four years ago, according to survey results, while the number of people opposed to religious-themed Christmas displays on government property has increased from 20 percent to 26 percent since 2015.
‘Sorry, Mr. President’
A Dec. 14 Washington Post story (“‘Merry Christmas’ greeting? Sorry, Mr. President, half of Americans don’t care, survey says.”), referencing the representative Pew survey sample of 1,503 adults nationwide, reveals other indications of significant erosion in Christian faith nationally. Other statistics of decline since 2014 gleaned from the survey include: 63 percent of Americans today believe Jesus was virgin-born (down from 73 percent in 2014), 68 percent accept that wise men guided by a star carried gifts to the infant Jesus (down from 75 percent), 75 percent believe Jesus was laid in a manger (down from 81 percent), and 67 percent accept that an angel announced the birth of Jesus to shepherds (down from 74 percent).
Unsurprisingly, religious assumptions in the U.S. are sharply bipartisan. While 75 percent of Republicans believe in the four traditional assumptions of mainstream Christianity noted above, only 47 percent of Democrats do.
Roughly half of Republicans also prefer staff use the “Merry Christmas” seasonal greeting in American businesses and stores rather than “Happy Holidays,” according to the survey. Meanwhile, the British continue to say, “Happy Christmas,” as they always have.
