Starbucks_Red_Holiday_Cups_2015-1-1200x799I am religious and have a very strong belief in my faith, but I am not a Christian. I am also a HUGE Starbucks fan and have been from the first time I tried it. But let me start this post by clearly stating that this is solely my personal opinion, and I would never want to hurt or disrespect anyone’s religion or belief.

Starbucks, because of its popularity has always been under scrutiny from its avid supporters and haters. This is the case with anything popular or mainstream. One has to bear all the good with the bad, especially with something like Starbucks, which has become a part of life for our generation. Sometimes controversy sparks over its logo being a pagan symbol, and other times just over the color of the cups. Every year Starbucks reveals its red holiday cups — with much hoopla — with some sort of design symbolic of Christmas.

Bring on the red cups

This year was no different. Until it was very different. This year, the cup — designed with a simple red ombre — did not go down well with a certain group of people. So the question to ask is, “Does your belief or religion really depend on your coffee cup?” I mean, really, can a simple color hurt? I don’t think so. Around the holiday season there are so many Christmas-y decorations around that if the Starbucks cup was missing a few bells or reindeer, you would think it wouldn’t be that noticeable.

We live in a very diverse society, and on the whole we should be more tolerant of all faiths and their customs. Starbucks is not a political party or group, so it doesn’t need to be socially correct all the time. (And in this case, I don’t think Starbucks was being socially incorrect; but, for the sake of argument, even if it was, shouldn’t we rise above and say, “So what?”)

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After all, it’s just a paper cup, filled with coffee, which will soon make its way into the recycling bin.