Christians have accused retailers of failing to promote their faith to shoppers by ‘airbrushing’ iconography and messages relating to the religion from Christmas cards.
The Bible Society is aghast that references to the nativity but invisible in aisles full of Christmas cards on display in supermarkets, card shops and convenience stores with just 34 out of 5,000 cards surveyed containing such content.
Images of Jesus, choirs and crosses are also in similarly scant supply, bringing the total volume of Christian themed content down to a paltry 2% according to their research.
Instead of promoting the religion retailers are instead opting to print more neutral and engaging images such as Father Christmas, snowmen and Christmas trees.
Recent census figures highlight a continuing slide in the proportion of the population who describe themselves as ‘nominally’ Christian, from 72% in 2002 to just 60% today.