As long-simmering debates continue over how American society should commemorate the Christmas holiday, a new Pew Research Center survey finds that most U.S. adults (56 percent) believe the religious aspects of Christmas are emphasized less now than in the past — even as relatively few Americans (32 percent) are bothered by this trend. In addition, a declining majority (66 percent) says religious displays such as nativity scenes should be allowed on government property. And compared with five years ago, a growing share of Americans (52 percent) say it does not matter to them how they are greeted in stores and businesses during the holiday season — whether with “merry Christmas” or a less-religious greeting like “happy holidays.”
Not only are some of the more religious aspects of Christmas less prominent in the public sphere, but also there are signs that they are on the wane in Americans’ private lives and personal beliefs, as well. For instance, there has been a noticeable decline in the percentage of U.S. adults (57 percent) who say they believe that biblical elements of the Christmas story — that Jesus was born to a virgin, for example — reflect historical events that actually occurred. And although most Americans (55 percent) still say they mark the occasion as a religious holiday, there has been a slight drop in recent years in the share who say they do this.
These are among the key findings from the latest Pew Research Center survey, conducted by telephone Nov. 29 to Dec. 4, 2017, among a representative sample of 1,503 adults nationwide. The rest of this report looks at the results of the survey in more detail, including trends over time and differences by religious affiliation and observance.
Here are some of the highlights of the religious affiliation and observance portion of the survey results:
Smaller majority now says Christian displays on government property are acceptable
While most Christians (73 percent) continue to think displaying religious symbols on government property is acceptable during the Christmas season, Christians as a whole have become less supportive of this position over the last three years. The change is most pronounced among white evangelical Protestants, who are less likely, by 10 percentage points, to favor displaying Christian symbols on government property today (80 percent) than in 2014 (90 percent). By comparison with white evangelicals, the views of other Christian groups are more stable on this question.
Most white evangelical Protestants (57 percent) say they think it is OK for Christian symbols like nativity scenes to be displayed on government property even if the Christian symbols are not accompanied by imagery from other faiths. Smaller shares of Black Protestants (41 percent), white mainline Protestants (39 percent) and Catholics (35 percent) are comfortable displaying only Christian symbols on government property, although similar shares of all three groups say such displays are acceptable if they are accompanied by religious symbols from other faiths.
Religious “nones” are divided in their views about religious displays on government property. Half think that displaying Christian symbols on government property is acceptable (including 24 percent who think such displays are OK by themselves and 27 percent who think they are only acceptable if accompanied by other religious symbols), while 45 percent say no religious symbols should be displayed on government property.
Most say religious aspects of Christmas
emphasized less now than in past
Seven in 10 white evangelical Protestants say that in American society, the religious aspects of Christmas are emphasized less today than in the past, and most (59 percent) say they find this at least somewhat bothersome. Nearly two-thirds of white mainline Protestants agree that the religious aspects of Christmas get less emphasis today than in the past, but compared with white evangelicals, they are less troubled by this development; 41 percent of white mainline Protestants say the declining emphasis on the religious aspects of Christmas bothers them “a lot” or “some.”
Roughly half of Catholics (49 percent), religious “nones” (50 percent) and Black Protestants (52 percent) say religion has a shrinking role in the way Christmas is celebrated in the U.S., but “nones” are less likely than other groups to be bothered by this trend.
Most white evangelical Protestants say they prefer for stores and other businesses to greet their customers by saying “merry Christmas” during the holidays. But evangelicals are somewhat less likely to express this view today (61 percent) compared with 2012 (70 percent).
Within every other major Christian tradition, there are at least as many people who say the holiday greetings used by stores and businesses don’t matter to them as there are who say they prefer “merry Christmas.” And among religious “nones,” fully 72 percent say the holiday greeting businesses use doesn’t much matter to them.
Religious and family elements
of Christmas celebrations
Large majorities in every major Christian group say they celebrate Christmas. Even among religious “nones,” fully 85 percent say they celebrate the holiday.
There are sizable differences, though, in the way people from various religious groups think about the occasion. Perhaps not surprisingly, most Christians (72 percent) say they mark the day as a religious holiday, including 60 percent who celebrate as more of a religious holiday than a cultural occasion and 12 percent who mark it as both a religious holiday and a cultural holiday. The share of Christians who celebrate Christmas as a religious holiday — either solely religious or partly religious and partly cultural — ranges from 64 percent among Black Protestants to 92 percent among white evangelical Protestants.
Among religious “nones,” however, seven in 10 (69 percent) say they celebrate Christmas as more of a cultural holiday than a religious occasion, compared with just 10 percent who celebrate it as more of a religious holiday and 4 percent who celebrate both the religious and cultural aspects.
This year, roughly eight in 10 Americans (82 percent) say they intend to gather with family and friends on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, down slightly since 2013 (86 percent). Large majorities in every religious group, ranging from 75 percent of religious “nones” to 89 percent of Catholics, say they anticipate attending a family gathering at Christmastime.
About half of American adults (51 percent) are planning to attend religious services on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. Among white evangelicals and white mainline Protestants, the shares who say they will attend religious services this Christmas are somewhat higher than in 2013. Among Catholics, by contrast, the share saying they will attend Christmas Mass has declined somewhat since 2013, from 76 percent to 68 percent.
Fully 84 percent of those who attend religious services on a weekly basis throughout the year say they will also go this Christmas. And most people who attend religious services occasionally — once or twice a month or a few times a year — also say they will go at Christmas (60 percent). Among those who seldom or never attend religious services, by contrast, very few (9 percent) say they will make an exception for Christmas.
Shrinking majority of public believes biblical Christmas story depicts actual events
Most Americans believe Jesus was born to a virgin, that he was visited by three wise men from the east, that his birth was announced to shepherds by an angel of the Lord, and that the baby Jesus was laid in a manger as an infant. But the share of Americans who believe that each of these four elements of the Christmas story reflects actual historical events is lower today than in 2014.
Even among some Christian groups, there are signs of growing doubts about the Christmas story as relayed in the Bible. The share of white mainline Protestants who believe in the virgin birth, for instance, has declined from 83 percent to 71 percent. And the share of Catholics who believe the birth of Jesus was announced by an angel of the Lord now stands at 82 percent, down from 90 percent in 2014.
Taken together, the data show that nine in 10 white evangelical Protestants continue to believe in all four of these parts of the Christmas story, which is very similar to the share who said this in 2014. Among white mainline Protestants, by contrast, a shrinking majority believes in each of these four aspects of the Christmas narrative. (The change in the share of Catholics who believe in all four parts of the Christmas story is not statistically significant.)
Among religious “nones,” just 11 percent believe in all four of these parts of the Christmas story (down from 21 percent), while fully half believe in none of them (53 percent, up from 42 percent).
