Christmas religious celebrations wane in America, but majority still believe in Christ’s birth

Away in a manger? Three wise men? A virgin birth? A recent survey shows that a growing number of Americans do not believe in the core elements of the Nativity.

The Pew Research Center poll shows that while the vast majority of U.S. residents still believe in Christ’s birth, their numbers are declining as religion wanes in the public and private lives of Americans.

“The United States remains a religious place where most people do identify with a religion and the vast majority of people believe in God — but the trends are in a downward direction,” Greg Smith, Pew’s associate director of research and a co-author of the study, told The Washington Times.

As part of an ongoing survey of Americans’ attitudes about Christmas, Pew researchers asked respondents what they believe about four key parts of Jesus’ birth: that he was born to a virgin, that he was laid in a manger, that wise men guided by a star brought gifts to the newborn and that an angel announced his birth to shepherds.

In 2014, 65 percent believed in all four elements. Today, that number has dropped to 57 percent.

“So, still a majority, but a smaller majority than when we last asked these questions,” Mr. Smith said. “Those are some of the key findings that jumped out at me.”

Overall, Americans say the religious aspects of Christmas are emphasized less today than in the past, but relatively few are concerned about this growing trend.

Gerry Bowler, who has written four books on Christmas’ history, said there is little worry that religion will ever be divorced completely from the holiday.

“I wouldn’t be too concerned about the Pew poll,” Mr. Bowler told The Times. “I don’t think Christmas itself is in any danger, nor is the Christian content of Christmas in any danger to those to whom it matters.”

The Nativity provides an aspect of magic, mystery and miracle to Christmas, he said, and the overall celebration is an excuse to party during some of the darkest, coldest and dreariest days in the Northern Hemisphere.

“There’s always been, almost from the very beginning, a combination of those two elements,” Mr. Bowler said. “A celebration of the Nativity and midwinter festival, cooperating and conflicting for about 1,700 years.”

His latest book, “Christmas in the Crosshairs: Two Thousand Years of Denouncing and Defending the World’s Most Celebrated Holiday,” explores the back and forth, death and resurrection of the holiday.

Christmas in the Middle Ages, he said, was heavily religious but included midwinter feasting and partying. By the 1700s, particularly in England, the religious element virtually disappeared, and celebrations instead “focused on the worst aspects of New Year’s,” Mr. Bowler said.

“It was drunken and outdoors and kind of riotous. It took a lot of people in the early 19th century — both in the United States and England — to save Christmas,” he said.

This happened with the invention of Santa Claus, a rediscovering and reimagining of holiday songs, and the success of Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol,” which emphasized charity and goodwill as redemptive, the author said.

According to the Pew survey, while an estimated 90 percent of Americans celebrate Christmas, 46 percent view it as a religious holiday and 33 percent view it as a cultural celebration — compared with 51 percent and 32 percent, respectively, in 2013.

The percentage of people who plan to attend religious services on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day also has declined over the past few years, from 54 percent in 2013 to 51 percent in 2017.

The decline of religion in the home is spreading to the public space, with fewer people believing that Christian symbols — whether alone or accompanied by other faiths — should be displayed on government property: 72 percent in 2014, compared with 66 percent in 2017.

There are also large generational differences on questions of religion and Christmas, with millennials much less likely to celebrate the holiday in a religious manner or support religion in public places, compared with baby boomers.

Mr. Bowler argues that debates over the “war on Christmas” — particularly whether to say “Merry Christmas” or “Happy holidays” — miss the point of preserving religious expression in the public sphere by instead focusing on the commercial aspects of the holiday.

“As a Christian, I don’t give a whoop what Walmart calls the season. … But it is in the interest of all kinds of faiths not to cleanse the public space of anything sacred,” he said. “In a multicultural country like Canada or the U.S., there must be a place for the expression of faith or of no faith. We do the country a disservice if we try and privatize Christmas, just push it back into the home or church.”

The Pew survey was conducted by phone from Nov. 29 to Dec. 4 among a representative sample of 1,503 adults nationwide. It has an overall margin of error of 2.9 percentage points that is larger for subgroups, Mr. Smith said.