Recently there has been a lot of controversy over the change in Starbucks new cups in the light of Christmas. A man by the name of Joshua Feuerstein, a former pastor, created a video criticizing Starbucks for changing their cups for the holiday season. He goes on to explain that due to the cup design change, this is a direct attack against not only Christmas but all Christians! Before we all jump on either side of the bandwagon by either calling this man a crazy person or by joining him and protesting against Starbucks, let's look at the facts.

First of all Starbucks is a private American coffee company based in Seattle, Washington and was founded in 1971. Neither Starbucks, nor really any company, especially a private one, is required to have Christmas or any holiday represented on their product design. Starbucks having any representation of Christmas on their cups in the first place was a choice, that has now been changed. So, yes, Starbucks has the right to change the design of their cups, but Feuerstein and many others who have jumped on this bandwagon are saying that the change is offensive and anti-Christmas.

When I had first heard this story, being a non coffee drinker, I had not known which side to take considering I did not know what the Starbucks coffee cups had looked last Christmas.

Shown to the left are the Starbucks Christmas cups from 2014 as opposed to, below, the Starbucks Christmas cups of 2015. There are clear differences in that the 2014 cups have snowflakes, ornaments and all other types of goodies normally associated with Christmas (which, by the way, if we want to be technical here, in no way shape or form have any of these things been associated with the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ in the bible). This is relevant due to the sole fact that the man starting all of this controversy is a former pastor.

According to Gallup.com 77% of Americans identify themselves as Christians and having Starbucks making the bulk of their success here in America, it is a stretch to say that Starbucks is anti-Christmas or anti-christian. It would be hard to hate the majority of your customers that make you the most successful coffee company in the world.

Also, despite the change in their cup, they still sell several Christmas themed products like their Christmas coffee blend which is sold in store which, highlighting again, is not required. If Starbucks were actually anti-Christmas they would have taken all of their Christmas products out of the store entirely and not just specifically their cups. So, if the argument is that Starbucks is not anti-Christmas, then why else would they change the design of the cup? This could be a marketing idea to have the cup stay red and green, which, by the way, are not only the colors of Christmas, but also to further help broaden their outreach to consumers.

If I identified myself as another religion, for example Hinduism, that did not celebrate Christmas it is safe to assume that I might be a little uncomfortable and more weary to buying a product that is Christmas themed. Again, with far more than half of America identifying themselves as Christian, it is far from a crime for companies to openly sell Christmas themed products, but this is a choice of marketing that the company in charge is free to choose which marketing route to go for. Whether to please the majority of America by appealing to Christians in particular or staying neutral in leaving religion out of your product and appealing to as many types of people as possible.

Another hilarious idea that Feuerstein suggests is that to get back at Starbucks, everyone should go their local Starbucks branch, buy Starbucks products and make the baristas say "Merry Christmas" by pretending that this phrase is your name. So, basically, let's get back at them by giving them our money... Something seems off about that.

Recently, Joshua Feuerstein went on CNN to talk about his cause, and calling it a disaster may be an understatement. Aside from his ignorant claim that Obama pretended to be a Christian to be elected, the biggest takeaway from that interview was the conversation started by Joshua in saying that Christians throughout America have been forced to be "quiet" about their beliefs. This sparks a big debate on when is it okay and not okay to celebrate your beliefs in public? Are corporations allowed to do the same?

To avoid "offending" anyone nowadays is almost impossible, but is having a massive public celebration in public malls offensive to other people who are not participating in the event? Well, it is a right of people to be able to celebrate their religion in whichever way they want as long as they are not infringing on the rights of others. So, in this aspect, Feuerstein may actually hold some ground when bringing up the South Park Mall incident in which they took down their Christmas tree to avoid offending people. Society overall is becoming overly sensitive so many large corporations including both South Park Mall and Starbucks are taking the safe route by leaving religion out of their business decisions. The problem which Joshua Feuerstein highlights is that, there is nothing wrong with large corporations holding public celebrations simply due to the fact that the majority of the American population celebrate the holiday. This goes for all holidays and all religions. Just because a product or service does not relate to you does not mean you should be offended by it.

This concept does not mean that any organization (like Starbucks) that decides to stay neutral when selling their product, hates Christmas or Christianity, especially when the product does not even directly correlate with the holiday. This differs from a product like having a big tree and a Santa Claus for children to meet at a mall, because this service directly correlates to the holiday. This differs from Starbucks coffee because this product does not, in any way shape or form, relate to Christmas and this is the key difference. This is why Feuerstein both is right and wrong.

Recently, to no one's surprise, Donald Trump had a few thing to say about the topic.

Other than this being an obvious marketing scheme to help get more publicity because generally Mr. Trump is a master of that, he goes on to call for a boycott of Starbucks and he tries to further prove his authenticity by saying that he is taking this position despite owning a Starbucks in one of his Trump Towers.

If you look at the totality of the events, Starbucks changing their cups to a plain red cup is not offensive towards Christmas or Christians but what Joshua Feuerstein did do was spark conversation of a greater controversy in America. That controversy, about when and where to celebrate your religious freedoms, will never go away and slowly, I suggest, may become a bigger and bigger debate topic in the future.