By Caitlyn Meisner | Staff Writer
You might think it’s safe to assume people at Baylor are celebrating Christmas, but the university is home to a diverse array of religions and people who celebrate other holidays.
I don’t want to be the Grinch of this tradition either, but it’s in my nature to talk about these things.
The “happy holidays” versus “merry Christmas” debate is unfortunately an annual topic of discussion that starts in November.
If you’re unfamiliar with this debate, please just close this column. Save yourself now! Those who are still with me, hey; let’s continue.
This “war on Christmas,” as former President Donald Trump coined it, was heating up in 2015 and 2016 with the Starbucks red cup controversy and public schools changing references to holiday breaks.
Every year, the same question is asked: Should we tell people “happy holidays” or “merry Christmas”? And every year, my eyes roll to the back of my head over it.
Why is it so complicated, and why can’t we ever come to a consensus?
Since 2013, research has been done on the subject to get to the root of the controversy. The Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) has led the way in scientific analysis of the issue. It asked Americans if they think stores and businesses should greet their customers by saying “happy holidays” instead of “merry Christmas” out of respect for people of different faiths.
According to PRRI, 62% of white evangelical Protestants responded “no” to the survey, while 41% of non-white Protestants responded “no.”
Additionally, 55% of minority Protestants and 58% of religiously unaffiliated Americans said they prefer that businesses use the “happy holidays” greeting.
The 62% of white evangelicals are also almost twice as likely to say they celebrate Christmas as a strongly religious holiday and are more likely to believe the Christmas story is historically accurate. The same data presented the white evangelicals spending almost $250 more than the average American during the holiday season.
Interestingly enough, the same data showed the southern region of the U.S. prefers using the term “happy holidays” by 8%; the Midwest prefers “merry Christmas” by 11%.
So, the jury’s out on this one in the U.S. However, I think what should be taken from this data is that nobody has the answer and that this country has hundreds of millions of perspectives to consider.
When taking a look at the Baylor community, we also see a diverse array of religious affiliations among first-time freshmen in the classes of 2024 and 2025.
A majority of freshmen coming into Baylor in the fall of 2020 and 2021 was some sect of Christianity, whether that is Baptist, Catholic, non-denominational, Methodist or Presbyterian.
There are still some students who affiliate with other religions; 43 students affiliated with Buddhism, 126 with Hinduism and 86 with Islam. Furthermore, 1,062 students claimed no religion, chose “other” or did not specify.
So, I would think twice before exclaiming “merry Christmas” to your entire class before winter break. Let’s be inclusive this holiday season and try to switch to saying “happy holidays.”
Also, when we leave for winter break, we aren’t just celebrating Christmas. Remember New Year’s Eve? New Year’s Day? The winter solstice? Come on, let’s give those holidays some love, because they’re just as cool.
I’ll cool off with the hot takes after this one — I promise. Only cold takes from now on.
Happy holidays, everyone!
