The War on Christmas is over!* We win!**
The Public Religion Research Institute says in a newly-released survey that more Americans than ever before prefer the term “Happy Holidays” to “Merry Christmas”:
(What’s that you say? The question is biased to make people say “Happy Holidays” so they don’t seem disrespectful? Good job, my AP Stats students…)
Nearly half (49%) of Americans agree stores and businesses should greet their customers with “happy holidays” or “season’s greetings” instead of “merry Christmas” out of respect for people of different faiths. However, a substantial minority (43%) disagree. Support for saying “happy holidays” or “season’s greetings” is up slightly since December 2010, when 44% preferred that businesses use less religious greetings.
That said, the survey also revealed the ignorance of our country, with an estimated 49% of Americans saying that the whole story of Christmas — Virgin birth and all — is historically accurate.
Cathy Lynn Grossman has more on the survey here.
*There is no War on Christmas.
**Yeah, we did!