In 2005, the so-called “War on Christmas” began to rage after Fox News began promoting a book written by radio host John Gibson, which claimed there was a liberal conspiracy to ban Christian holidays.

But almost 20 years later, is the war over? Or, at least, has it diminished to the point where it no longer matters?

A recent poll by YouGov suggests that the war is on its way out when it comes to the culture war issues that have animated public discourse.

According to a poll conducted Dec. 3-5 among 1,107 U.S. adults on a series of questions about the winter holidays.one particular question stood out: Only 23% of Americans believe there is a war on Christmas in the United States, while 46% say there is not. 31% are undecided.

The survey results are a change from just two years ago, when 39% of respondents in a similar situation YouGov December 2022 poll said they believe there is a so-called culture war going on during this holiday.

The latest poll suggests a significant decline in support for the war on Christmas among Republicans. In 2022, a poll showed that 59% of Republicans thought there was a war on this holiday. The most recent poll shows that figure has fallen to 36%, a drop of 23 points.

Among Democrats, the drop was 12 points.

“There has been a significant decline in the proportion of Americans who believe there is a war on Christmas, from 51% who said so about a decade ago to about half – 23% – today. ‘today,’ said Taylor Orth, director of Investigate Data Journalism with YouGov.

The numbers today are lower than in 2016, when former President Donald Trump held a post-election rally in Mobile to celebrate the holiday and his election victory over Hillary Clinton. The underlying theme of this rally was to include “Merry Christmas” on the signage at Ladd-Peebles Stadium.

According to a Public Policy Poll from that year, 34 percent of Americans said there was a “war on Christmas,” which was based on a 2013 poll by the group.

Even among Trump supporters — who identify differently from Republicans in polls — the numbers are falling. According to the YouGov survey from earlier this month, 43% of Trump supporters say there is a war over the Christmas holiday, while 31% disagree and 26% are unsure. Among Vice President Kamala Harris’ supporters, 69% disagree that war exists.

Mathew Staver, founder and president of Liberty Counsel – a conservative Christian legal group that advocates for religious freedoms – said he believed the figures reflected the group’s progress toward reducing Christmas censorship in retail stores.

Liberty Counsel annually publishes a “naughty” and “nice” list of businesses that recognize and celebrate Christmas and has done so since 2001. This year’s list includes 27 retailers listed as “nice” while 14 have been labeled “naughty.”

“If you look at where it is today compared to where it was twenty years ago when we started… our list of ‘bad guys’ or ‘nice guys’ that included the retail market, there’s quite a difference,” Staver said.

He says backlash to diversity, equity and inclusion efforts is one reason there are fewer problems with what he calls “censorship” of Christmas elements like nativity scenes and even the Christmas colors red and green.

Staver said he doesn’t think the results of November’s presidential election have anything to do with these changes.

“I think the trend we’re seeing in the rollback of censorship within the public and private sectors regarding Christmas played out in the election,” Staver said. “People are tired of censorship, political correctness, wokeism and attempts to suppress religious expression. »

The YouGov poll shows that among regions in the United States, there is still concern about the “war on Christmas” in the South. Only 39 percent of Southerners disagree with the idea of ​​a “war on Christmas,” a figure far lower than in other parts of the country.

Michael Altman, a professor of religious studies at the University of Alabama, said he believes the decline is related to the election results.

“The ‘War on Christmas’ has always seemed to be more about a top-down culture war that political operatives and the media pushed and the public then followed,” he said. “I think it was yet another way for conservatives to express their frustration under and especially under (President Barack) Obama. But the Republicans just won the election, so there’s no reason to express frustration. Therefore, you don’t need a war at Christmas.”