(YouTube)

(CNSNews.com) -- A recent poll shows that while 67% of Americans will have "strongly religious or somewhat religious" Christmas celebrations, the percentage of Americans who engage in a "not too religious" or more secular Christmas is on the rise.

In the Dec. 2-15 poll, which Gallup also conducted in 2010 and 2005, the survey asked, "Thinking of the way you personally celebrate Christmas, is it a strongly religious holiday, somewhat religious or not too religious?"

Thirty-five percent said "strongly religious" Christmas and 32% said "somewhat religious," which totals 67% on the strong or somewhat religious side.

Twenty-six percent said their Christmas will be "not to religious," which is up from 16% in 2010 and 19% in 2005.





Only 7% in the latest poll said they "do not celebrate" Christmas.

The survey further showed that 37% of Catholics said they would have a "strongly religious" Christmas while 50% pf Protestants said the same.

Also, 47% of conservatives responded that they would have a "strongly religious" Christmas compared to 16% of Liberals.

(Screenshot, YouTube)

"As one might expect, Christmas is observed almost universally by Catholics and Protestants, with at least 80% of each group acknowledging a religious aspect of their celebrations," said Gallup. "However, Protestants are 13 points more likely than Catholics to say Christmas is a strongly religious holiday for them."

"The next-largest predictor of Christmas religiosity is ideology," reported the survey firm. "Those who self-identify as conservatives are about three times as likely as self-described liberals to have strongly religious Christmas celebrations. While moderates' celebrations are slightly less religious than average, there is no statistical difference in their preferences from national trends."





In conclusion, Gallup said, "Overall, Americans' likelihood to celebrate Christmas has not changed significantly since 2005. However, the religious component of the holiday has become less pronounced over that period, especially among younger and more liberal Americans. ... [T]he decline in religiosity of Christmas is in line with Gallup's overall research on religious identification, as well as how deeply integrated religion is in Americans' day-to-day life."

For the poll, Gallup interviewed by telephone a random sample of 1,025 adults, aged 18 and older, in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The margin of error was +/- 4 percentage points.