If you're like most Americans, your favorite holidays include Christmas--in a recent national survey, 85 percent name Christmas as one of their favorites Thanksgiving (50 percent), and Easter (24 percent). Furthermore, when asked to name the "most significant Christian holiday to you personally," 70 percent name Christmas and 19 percent name Easter. And 72 percent report that celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ is "very important" to them.
How do Americans celebrate Christmas? Three-quarters exchange gifts, attend family gatherings, cook holiday meals, and decorate Christmas trees. Religious ways of celebrating the holiday are somewhat less common: 63 percent attend a religious service, 57 percent take time out for religious reflection, and 51 percent read the Bible or other religious book. Caring for the less fortunate at Christmas is more likely to take the form of giving food, money, or clothing (68 percent do) than giving time (36 percent volunteer for charitable activities at Christmas).
Are we too materialistic about Christmas? As the figure shows, only a minority of Americans (31 percent) think they themselves put too much emphasis on material things at Christmas. But the majority of us (88 percent) also seem to believe that "most Americans" put too much emphasis on the material aspects of Christmas. The discrepancy between how we describe our own behavior and how we see that of others is remarkable.
As the second figure shows, many more Americans see the positive effects of Christmas, than feel the negative effects. Loneliness at Christmas, while not very common overall, is reported more often by those in certain groups--people with incomes below $30,000; those who are single, divorced, or widowed; and those who are over the age of 50.
What has your congregation done during this holiday season to reach out to those who might be particularly lonely or stressed at this time of year?
Source: The Public Perspective: A Roper Center Review of Public Opinion and Polling. December/January 1998. Storrs, CT: The Roper Center. (Polls cited: Tarrance Group & Lake Research for US News & World Report, November 1996; Roper Starch Worldwide, August 1995)
Email the author: Deborah A. Bruce
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