Wednesday, November 11, 2015

Rave on, it's a crazy feeling.....

If I don't see Jesus in the foam on my latte, Christmas is ruined!

The sad part about the latest outbreak in the "War on Christmas"?  That this aspect of the story is getting so little attention:

Furthermore, even religious Christians are calling out this campaign as self-serving and nonproductive — the posts using Feuerstein’s #MerryChristmasStarbucks hashtag are overwhelmingly dismissive of the campaign, even from a religious perspective. Other commenters on the Liberal War on Christmas Facebook page raised genuine, valid concerns about the uselessness of attacking red cups, given the magnitude of suffering in the world. One wrote, “You did not share all the facts. You have a platform to share God’s goodness not to shame a company. Raise up your followers with a movement to open their own homeless shelters. To walk among the broken. To go and get coffee to go give to someone down on their luck this Holiday. Serve the coffee not point out their ‘mistakes’, actually, your lack of education is causing a really sad situation to a company, and possibly creating kahasis. Encourage your followers to buy a bag of coffe, brew, get some cups and write ‘God Loves You’ and pass that out. Just a thought.” As one Twitter user, Brian Green-Young, whose words were highlighted at Delish, wrote, “If you’re Christian & upset over Starbucks cups, your priorities are out of whack and you don’t have enough to do.”

You won't find that mentioned in any of the articles linked in this article at Slate.  Delish, as Salon notes, caught it.  But nobody mentions it as a counter to The Donald's assertion that he'll make us all say "Merry Christmas" if he's in the White House in December of 2017.  Nobody includes it as a response to this utter nonsense.*  It is the real story; that outrage doesn't beget outrage alone, but also gives rise to reasonable responses.

But the internet isn't about reasonable responses.  Reason doesn't generate clicks; rage does.

Then again, that's all the war on Christmas is, isn't it?

*I do the googling so you don't have to. You'll find no mention of it here, here, here, or here.  Even Snopes had to get in on it.  Of course, most of 'em use the excuse to complain about how commercial Christmas is.  Old news, fellas.

4 comments:

  1. The last thing people who try to take what Jesus said seriously is another reason to hate American-style Christmas but they find new ones every year.

    I've never been in a Starbucks but looking at their menu online, if they think I'd shell out $1.75 for a small coffee - anything less than a pint being a small in my book - they've got rocks in their head. I wouldn't pay that if they gave it to me in a heated ceramic cup with a clean cloth napkin and a place to sit while I drank it with no muzak in the background.

    I need another cup. It's a quarter in the teacher's room on the 2nd floor but it's really crappy coffee. I need to buy a thermos.

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  2. To the extent Starbucks taught people outside of Seattle that Folgers is not coffee (or anything else bought in cans at the grocery store), I applaud them.

    But I don't praise them or defend them against critics. As for the thermos, it's the best way possible to enjoy your coffee away from home. I've ben doing it for three decades now. When I used to work in an office, I'd carry my own java with me. Mostly away from home I drink it in the car now, and when I'm out of town Starbucks is a reliable cup.

    But I still prefer the brew I get from a coffee roaster I've been buying from for longer than my young adult daughter has been around.

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  3. I don't understand why anyone seriously Christian would want to further inject commercial interests in Christmas. Every year I have to remind myself we have 2 Christmas's in the US. One is a secular cultural event and the other is a religious event. You can put up a tree, watch the Grinch and Rudolph, visit Santa, sing about Winter Wonderlands and have a very nice holiday without stepping in a church or thinking of a miraculous birth. The other starts with Avent, peaks at the midnight service on Christmas Eve and runs through Epiphany. A lot of the season is context, Silent Night playing over the sound system at the mall is very different from singing Silent Night in darkness and passing the flame from candle to candle in the church. (And to tweak you, we do have a Christmas tree in the front of our sanctuary. It's an old Lutheran congregation where the services were in German up to WWI. No lights, just white ornaments of religious symbols hand made long ago by some devoted congregants.) If Starbucks wants to participate in the American cultural event, good for them. But I would really prefer they stay out of the other Christmas. For the record I am devoted to both holidays, I would very much miss the tree, lights, etc. even while finding the depth of meaning in Advent and Christmas. The Starbucks light roast is quite good, but for the high price I am just as happy with Dunkin Donuts or even McDonalds for a buck.

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  4. I've seen churches leave it outside the nave (Episcopal) and churches put a tree up near the pulpit (most Protestants). They are always careful, however, to call it a "Chrismon" tree, not a "Christmas" tree.

    My favorite is the number of Protestants who despise Catholics for their use of "false idols" such as a figure on the cross, who nevertheless put up a manger scene (living or static) at the church, in the church, even encourage them at home.

    That always tickles me, almost as much as the literalists who put the magi in the manger with the shepherds and the Star. Luke as manger and shepherds, Matthew has Magi (who came two years later) and the Star; no manger at all.

    But hey, it's Xmas.....

    I completely agree with you, rusty: Christmas is a secular holiday, Christmas is a religious observance. I've made my peace with the distinction, and keep mine and let the secular world keep its holiday. The holiday is a good enough idea that everyone should enjoy it in the way best for them.

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