An online poll of 500 practising Christians in the UK about Christmas
Date Published: 24 Dec 2011
Categories: Public and communities | Retail & Consumer | Social | UK
Description
OVERWHELMIMG MAJORITY OF CHRISTIANS THINK THAT CHRISTMAS HAS LOST ITS MEANING
With just days to go before Christmas, a new ComRes survey reveals that the vast majority of UK Christians think that Christmas has lost meaning.
The ComRes poll, conducted in the first two weeks of December reveals that 93% of practising Christians agree that the true meaning of Christmas has been devalued compared with just 5% who disagree. Moreover, 88% of Christians think that Christmas today is more about presents than it is about Jesus.
Results suggest that many Christians are becoming disaffected with materialistic attitudes towards Christmas, and believe that Christianity has been side-lined. Indeed, 86% of Christians think that Christmas is seen as a cultural holiday rather than a religious holiday in the UK, compared to 11% who disagree.
Interestingly however, 70% of Christians think that Christmas should be for everyone, not just Christians – suggesting that while they might not necessarily agree with some aspects of the British Christmas, they do not think that it should be a festival solely for those who practise Christianity. However, just 36% think that more should be done to include people of other faiths in the celebration of Christmas, contrasting with the 45% of Christians who disagree with this statement.
Methodology Note: ComRes surveyed 559 UK Christians on Cpanel between 2nd and 14th December 2011 by online questionnaire. Data were weighted by denomination to reflect the composition of the UK Christian population according to the 2005 Church Census. ComRes is a member of the British Polling Council and abides by its rules.
Full data tables available at: www.comres.co.uk.