It’s
amazing what gets people riled up in today’s world. If you say one wrong word,
you’re called an –ist of some kind. Make one false move and you’re strung up by
your balls and forced to apologize lest your livelyhood go down in flames and
you’re effectively blacklisted from society. However there’s one thing I never
thought I’d have to write an open letter about: Starbucks. Granted, I’m not a frequent
customer to the Walmart of coffee houses, but I am aware that they have a few
annual traditions, one of them being the red cups they offer every Holiday
season once the last bit of pumpkin spice has been snorted by one of the
baristas and the halls can officially be decked. However, this year the
franchise decided to take a more simple approach to their Yuletide tradition,
by having a plain red cup minus any Wintery graphics.
Personally I
find this to be a welcome change, since the color red is still very much
associated with the Holidays, but it seems everything is not without its
controversy these days, as many die-hard Christians are outraged with the lack of
semi-transparent snowflakes and snowmen on their cups, using it as more ammo in
their now annual “War on Christmas” debate. There’s so many things wrong with
this argument that I don’t know where to begin. First and foremost, shut up
about this “War on Christmas” BS. There’s no war on Christmas, and there never
was one. You need to recognize that there are other holidays around the time of
Christmas, hence why it’s the “Holidays” as opposed to making an amalgamation
of every celebration from Christmas to the Winter Solstice. Saying that only
Christmas matters is selfish and pretty bigoted to say the least. And don’t get
me started on the X-mas bull either, because the X literally means Christ
because of its resemblance to the cross and is as old as Christianity itself,
but that’s another topic. Starbucks themselves stated that their intent wasn’t
to demean Christmas or give it the jolly boot of doom, but to have a minimalist
cup which appeals to everyone. Like I said, I still get that warm, fuzzy holiday
feeling when I look at the ads without any Santas to inject Holiday Cheer directly
in my bloodstream.
 |
| Sweet sweet Holiday Cheer.... |
Secondly,
why does it even matter? I mean, I can understand if some depraved soul decided
to start a collection of Starbucks Red Cups and displays them over his mantle
piece like trophies, but most people are going to throw them away after taking
50 Instagram pictures of their peppermint-infused diabetic coma in a cup. The
drink itself hasn’t changed, so why does a little foam cup matter so much?
Maybe it’s my ignorance of coffee culture as a whole and people may indeed
treat coffee like it’s a religion in its own right, but I do not see the
significance of what will turn into a piece of trash in a matter of minutes. Are
we this sensitive as a society where we get our tacky holiday sweaters in a
twist when a company changes graphics on a CUP?
Lastly, I
know this goes against the “Appeal to worse problems” fallacy, but surely there
are bigger issues in the Christian world than a coffee chain. What about true
persecution in foreign countries where missionaries are imprisoned or killed?
What about Christian-run charities which could use that $20 you spent on a
Vente machiato with all the trimmings to help combat homelessness or hunger?
This is clearly a case of picking your battles, and like I said, my argument
may be fallacious, but then again, so are people who get uptight about
something they’re going to throw in the garbage anyway. It’s a cup, not a declaration of war. Get over
yourselves.
I guess what I’m trying to say here is that I thought this
generation would have more sense than to start nothing short of a riot over a Styrofoam cup. I genuinely thought we were better than this, but now I see why
people see Christianity as a joke. Speaking as a devout Christian myself, we
need to cut out the BS and focus on things which truly matter, not first-world
problems as insignificant as this.
