As soon as November 1 hits (and sometimes even before), it seems that Christmas has officially taken over every inch of every store in America. There is red and green as far as the eye can see, giving off the happy, festive glow of the holidays. Snowflakes and images of Santa plaster everything you can imagine. It is truly the happiest time of the year!
I went to Starbucks this last week to try their seasonal drinks, which were sure to put me in the Christmas spirit if I wasn’t already! I ordered my Venti peppermint mocha with extra whip and an extra pump of chocolate, and pulled up to the second window. When they handed me my drink, I was appalled. There were no fun Christmas symbols anywhere to be seen on this cup! The cup was red, and the Starbucks logo was green, but that was the only faint tie that the cup had to the holidays. This seriously offended me.
I realize this story is ridiculous. First, I would never order a Venti peppermint mocha with extra whip and an extra pump of chocolate; I might die from all of the caffeine and sugar. But secondly, why would I possibly be angry or even offended about what is housing such a drink? Across the nation, people are up in arms about a simple red coffee cup. A coffee cup that most of them probably don’t even recycle. A coffee cup that more than likely gets thrown in the garbage and covered with even more garbage. A coffee cup that is exactly that: a coffee cup.
A former pastor named Joshua Feurstein posted a video to Facebook on November 5 that quickly swept the nation. In his video he accuses Starbucks of removing Christmas from their cups "because they hate Jesus.” Christians across the country have followed his lead and are demanding that Starbucks fill their cups back up with Christmas. This is an interesting concept, considering many also advocate for the end of Christmas being commercialized and want to put the “Christ” back in Christmas.
The last time I checked, snowflakes, Santa, reindeer, and ornaments have nothing to do with the Christian celebration of Christmas. Starbucks is also not a Christian-based company. According to our constitution, every citizen (including the entire Starbucks entity) has the right to exercise their religious freedom. If this means they don’t want to advocate for anything at all, they don’t have to! Starbucks vice president Jeffrey Fields responded, saying that they “wanted to usher in the holidays with a purity of design that welcomes all of our stories.” Even as a Christian myself, I think that’s pretty cool.
It's at times like these that everyone’s inner activist comes out. It seems that there are two sides to this argument. On one side, you have everyone who is angry that Starbucks would remove what are essentially winter symbols, not Christmas symbols, from their cardboard cups. On the other side, you have everyone who is angry that so much focus is being put on a coffee cup, instead of issues like poverty, hunger, education, etc. There is a small percentage that thinks the entire ordeal is incredibly stupid, so that makes three sides. Ending with this video, I think you can see which side I’m on. Merry Christmas, Happy Kwanza, have a nice day.
