7 in 10 Americans Prefer 'Merry Christmas' Over 'Happy Holidays': Poll
With the annual war on Christmas underway in various municipalities and nativity scenes around the country a new poll released shows that the majority of Americans still prefer the traditional "Merry Christmas" over its contemporary counterpart "Happy Holidays."
The poll, which was conducted and released by Rasmussen, asked respondents what they would prefer to say and hear during a typical seasonal encounter. By a very wide margin 68 percent stated that they preferred "Merry Christmas" compared to only 32 percent of Americans, who choose "Happy Holidays."
The Rasmussen Reports Survey collected data for 34 categories and unsurprisingly, "Merry Christmas" was the overwhelming favorite in every one.
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There were also wide margins within various demographics groups which showed that the more secular "Happy Holidays" cheer is not as popular as once thought.
The largest margin in any one demographic group happened to be men, who preferred "Merry Christmas" to its more generic counterpart, 69 percent to 22 percent. Women comprised the next largest margin supporting "Merry Christmas," garnering support from 67 percent compared to 23 percent of women who chose "Happy Holidays."
The battle over Christmas also showed to contain a wide political divide as well. Respondents who described themselves as Republicans supported "Merry Christmas" by a whopping 86 percent to only eight percent who did not. On the left, that margin was considerably narrower, with only 51 percent endorsing "Merry Christmas" while 41 percent of Democrats preferred "Happy Holidays."
Not surprisingly, the majority of folks who identified as being religious or somewhat religious supported the traditional holiday greeting. That has not stopped progressive activists around the country from advocate for the removal of public displays of Christmas cheer.
In the past few weeks alone, some colleges have been told to remove mentions of Christmas during various holiday fundraisers and school drives as calls to quiet Christmas cheer increase.
The fight over Christmas has also made its way in the legal realm. The Santa Monica Nativity Scene in California, a staple of the local community, has been banned from putting up any displays this year. A complaint was lodged by several secular and leftist organizations, including the Freedom from Religion Foundation; they fought to have the displays removed.
