A survey has revealed that most Americans still believe in the importance of Jesus and attending Church for Christmas.
"Christmas traditions that have nothing to do with the Christian faith continue to multiply," said LifeWay Research vice-president Scott McConnell. "Still, most Americans want more of Jesus in their Christmas rather than less."
The survey came in relation to the atheist billboard released on December 1 by the American Atheists showing a little girl saying she is "too old for fairy tales." The billboard says: "Dear Santa, All I want for Christmas is to skip church."
LifeWay asked 1,000 Americans about their Christmas views via Random Digit Dialing from September 26 to October 5. According to the survey, 63 percent of the Americans believe that attending the church is a must for Christmas while 32 percent disagree. The remaining 4 percent said they are not sure.
With the statement, "Christmas should be more about Jesus," 8 out of 10 participants have agreed to it while 18 percent said otherwise. It was also discovered that the Southerners agree more (86 percent) than the Midwesterners (76 percent).
The age differences of the participants clearly showed significant results. Younger Americans aged 18 to 24, and 25 t0 34, are less likely to agree than those aged 35 to 44 and 65 above.
Most Americans agree that the song "Silent Night" should be allowed to be sung in schools and programs. Only 12 percent disagreed and two percent are not sure.
Also, LifeWay discovered that the "Happy Holidays" greeting is fine for most people. Twenty-nine percent of the participants agree with the statement: "It is offensive when people say Happy Holidays instead of Merry Christmas." Sixty-seven percent disagree. Four in the ten evangelicals who joined the survey said the phrase is offensive.
As for the "X-mas" term, 39 percent say it is offensive. However, most young Americans do not seem to mind (18 percent).