Just in case anyone has been living under a rock and needs to be filled in, an epic war has been waged between two superpowers; the Christian community and Starbucks.
When Starbucks unveiled its new red cup to kickstart the holiday season Nov. 1, what was supposed to be a merry day filled with festive anticipation quickly turned sour. Customers who received their hot beverages were quick to notice that this year’s cup, compared to years past, is particularly plain.
Although, according to Jeffrey Fields, Starbucks Vice President of Design & Content, the intention behind the cup’s design is to “usher in the holidays with a purity of design that welcomes all of our stories,” rather than telling “stories with our holiday cups designs” as they have in previous years, people are upset. Specifically, a number of Christians, yet certainly not all, are in an uproar because they feel that the unadorned cups signify Starbucks’ intention to reject the religious aspects of Christmas and advocate, instead, for political correctness.
Therefore, in an attempt to retaliate against the company, Joshua Feuerstein, a Christian pastor and social media personality who claims that the red cups mean that Starbucks “hates Jesus,” walked into his local Starbucks proudly carrying a gun and donning a Jesus shirt. When asked for a name for his order, he responded with “Merry Christmas” so as to “trick” the barista into writing it on the cup. He then challenged “all great Americans and Christians around this great nation” to do the same by going to Starbucks and take a selfie of themselves with their Merry Christmas cups. Although Feuerstein should be given at least some props for coming up with such a clever scheme, he seems at least a tad uneducated about a few things. As a matter of fact, everyone who is up in arms about this whole ordeal should keep these in mind:
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Starbucks has famously remained quietly unbiased when questioned about any sort of religious affiliations.
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Snowflakes and reindeer are not religious symbols. As a matter of fact, Starbucks cups have always remained free of any traditional Christian symbolism. Snowflakes are only associated with Christmas because both happen to occur within a general timeframe of cold weather patterns, and reindeer’s association with Christmas comes not from biblical origins, but Norse ones, where Thor, the God of Thunder, flew through the skies in a chariot lead by goats named Gnasher and Cracker.
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Not everyone who enjoys Peppermint Mochas and Pumpkin Spice Lattes is a Christian. So, even if it was a clever move toward political correctness, (which, again, it is not, for reasons aforementioned) Starbucks, then, would still be completely in the right because their target audience is not the Christian community. Rather, it is the broader audience of coffee drinkers and caffeine addicts.
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Instead of “tricking” a barista to write “Merry Christmas” on a cup, angry customers should instead leave a hearty tip. After all, wouldn’t that better advocate Christ-like ideals? “Every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the Lord your God which he has given you.” Deuteronomy 16:17, and all that? Surely, if you can afford a $5.00 cup of coffee, you can afford to help out the hard-working soul that made it for you.
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The quality of an individual’s holiday season, whether Christian or not, should not be determined by a beverage-holding vessel made of recycled paper. Instead, it should be about spending time with family, friends and spreading goodwill to all.
With all of the backlash currently surrounding such a controversial topic, it is important to remember that the Christian community as a whole is not to blame for such nonsense. Most Christians, it seems, do not care in the slightest what Starbucks cups look like and are focusing instead on preparing for a peaceful Christmas celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ. It is a sad fact that such a small, radical group is falsely representing the beliefs of a much larger denomination. To the practicing Christians who are receiving negativity due to all of this; you have my most wholehearted sympathy and apologies.
Just as Feuerstein challenged the Christian community, another challenge needs to be made. Take time this holiday season to forget the petty aspects of life (like the red cups) and focus on what is really important. When was the last time you took a moment to reevaluate the areas of society that really need to improve? Donate time to an animal shelter, make goodie bags for the homeless, send care packages to soldiers; do something that will genuinely benefit others. Guaranteed, it will make much more of a difference than passive-aggressively criticizing a coffee company.