Starbucks hates Christmas and Jesus apparently.

Frank Bullitt

According to this clown in the link anyway. - http://news.sky.com/story/1584329/evangelist-claims-starbucks-hates-jesus

Its nice that he saw it fit to bring his gun with him to get his coffee as well.

This type of stuff doesn't surprise me or not make me laugh. This clown is advocating that people get the Starbucks employees to put "Merry Christmas" on the cup where they write the name as some sort of revolt against them. This has to be the stupidest thingI have seen in a while.

You are GIVING Starbucks your money in order to get "Merry Christmas" written on the cup, the joke is on you for buying the coffee in the first place.

Cabaal

So his protest as to just normally order coffee and give the big corporation money?
He's not a smart person is he?

He seems pretty clueless,

Looking at google image, previous cups have had zero religions symbols on them
https://www.google.ie/search?q=starbucks+christmas+cups&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0CAcQ_AUoAWoVChMIloXAm6CEyQIVhj0PCh3xCgJC&biw=1301&bih=1235

Unless Jebus made snowmen and made reindeers fly? I don't remember those things in the bible.

Frank Bullitt

Nothing about this makes sense.

I found this Buzzed post very amusing. - http://www.buzzfeed.com/mjs538/gargoyles-psychics-starbucks?bffbmain&utm_term=.nhJprX4J3#.xflX4Ex8w

The Randy Riverbeast

Saw this a few days ago. It is fairly weird. They have a Christmas cup, it just isnt Christmasy enough for some people all of a sudden.

Bit ironic how the everything is too PC crowd act exactly in the same manner as those they give out about.

Peregrinus

But, wait a minute. If the protest takes off, and other people start to give their name as "Merry Christmas", how will they know whose coffee is whose? What if you order a double-shot frappucino with extra caramel under the name "Merry Christmas", but when they call out your name and you collect your cup it turns out to be the tepid water with brown grit that another "Merry Christmas" ordered?

This is America, people. I can see arguments over this ending up in the deadly rattle of small-arms fire.

Gordon

That's why whenever I go to Starbucks and they ask for my name, I say 'Coffee'. Won't get confused for the merry christmas lot.

Peregrinus

I always give a false name when I order coffee. (I don't want the CIA to know what coffee I drink.) I've discovered that you need to give a reasonably recognisable name (so you don't waste time answering questions like "what?" and "how do you spell that?") but also a reasonably rare name (so you don't end up collecting the coffee order of a perfectly genuine Steve, which gets you back to the small-arms fire problem).

Of course, in order to achieve the object of frustrating the CIA it's necessary to change the name each time, or at least to use names randomly drawn from a fairly long list. "Sherlock" works well, as do "Florence", "McTavish" and "Jasper". "Eric the half a bee" is too long for most coffee cups. "Edward Snowden" positively invites CIA attention.

Gordon

You should try the Starbucks Whispers approach where you start off with one false name and whenever they spell it wrong, you have to use that mis-spelled name the next time. Then track all these names by photographing the cups and put it in a clickbait article for people to read in a year's time. People won't believe what #14 was.

robindch

Gordon wrote: »

That's why whenever I go to Starbucks and they ask for my name, I say 'Coffee'.

Do they serve coffee there?

Links234

Gintonious wrote: »

Nothing about this makes sense.

It makes perfect sense when you consider that christians have a persecution complex, and anything that feeds into that will have them screaming "Help, we're being oppressed"

Fox news has been doing this for years, Bill O'Reilly drums up all this "War on Christmas" hogwash all the time. It gets them more attention. Is it any wonder that rags like Breitbart would go full steam ahead with stuff like this:

Datallus

Well, Starbucks is muck anyways.

Although, they do have those nice frosted chocolate muffins, so there's that too.

PopePalpatine

Breitbart is pretty much Fox News or the Daily Mail for millennials nowadays.

Links234

PopePalpatine wrote: »

Breitbart is pretty much Fox News or the Daily Mail for millennials nowadays.

I actually think they're worse, which is some achievement.

Custardpi

Links234 wrote: »

It makes perfect sense when you consider that christians have a persecution complex, and anything that feeds into that will have them screaming "Help, we're being oppressed"

Fox news has been doing this for years, Bill O'Reilly drums up all this "War on Christmas" hogwash all the time. It gets them more attention. Is it any wonder that rags like Breitbart would go full steam ahead with stuff like this:

The saddest part of this is that in some parts of the world there actually is persecution of Christians. Many have been murdered in Egypt, Syria & Iraq over the past few years, the Middle East is losing centuries or even millenia old Christian communities, perhaps for good. Meanwhile in China Christians face strict government control of how they worship. It's hard to get completely reliable reports from North Korea but it appears that Christians (who of course would hold Jesus in higher esteem than Kim Jung Un) are severely repressed in that state.

The "war on Christmas" narrative peddled by American conservatives is worse than mere bullsh1t, it is a slap in the face to those people around the world who are genuinely suffering for their Christian faith.

robindch

CNN interviews Josh Feuerstein, one of the "entrepreneurial bigots" behind the campaign - carcrash telly at its best:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ti629wLy4vU

cowboyBuilder

Im in 2 minds here, I'm no fan of any religion, but this PC pandering to certain groups - renaming Christmas as holidays, removing cribs etc ... it getting annoying .

magicbastarder

where have they been removing cribs?

oldrnwisr

cowboyBuilder wrote: »

Im in 2 minds here, I'm no fan of any religion, but this PC pandering to certain groups - renaming Christmas as holidays, removing cribs etc ... it getting annoying .

Oh FFS, every year this comes up. Here's the thing. It's not about renaming Christmas as holidays. It's about recognising that the world is made up of more than just Christians. There are other faiths and groups which celebrate holidays in December, Hanukkah being the most obvious example. Saying "Happy Christmas" makes an implicit assumption that the person is a Christian. Saying "Happy Holidays" doesn't.

Besides which, the phrase Happy Holidays has been around since the 1890s and was introduced by Christians, for the most part. Because of the diversity of population in America there are a lot of holidays celebrated around that time including Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's, Kwanzaa, The Epiphany, The feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe etc. Happy holidays is a phrase which encompasses all of these. In some instances it was used as a means to shorten the greeting: "Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year".

Carlos Orange

oldrnwisr wrote: »

Oh FFS, every year this comes up. Here's the thing. It's not about renaming Christmas as holidays. It's about recognising that the world is made up of more than just Christians. There are other faiths and groups which celebrate holidays in December, Hanukkah being the most obvious example. Saying "Happy Christmas" makes an implicit assumption that the person is a Christian. Saying "Happy Holidays" doesn't.

Most non Christians in Ireland celebrate Christmas.

The Randy Riverbeast

oldrnwisr wrote: »

Oh FFS, every year this comes up. Here's the thing. It's not about renaming Christmas as holidays. It's about recognising that the world is made up of more than just Christians. There are other faiths and groups which celebrate holidays in December, Hanukkah being the most obvious example. Saying "Happy Christmas" makes an implicit assumption that the person is a Christian. Saying "Happy Holidays" doesn't.

Besides which, the phrase Happy Holidays has been around since the 1890s and was introduced by Christians, for the most part. Because of the diversity of population in America there are a lot of holidays celebrated around that time including Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's, Kwanzaa, The Epiphany, The feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe etc. Happy holidays is a phrase which encompasses all of these. In some instances it was used as a means to shorten the greeting: "Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year".

I always thought this was why and never understood what annoyed people by saying happy holidays, there's multiple holidays around the same time of year and some people celebrate different holidays. Why are people offended by the idea of people celebrating something other than Christmas? Christmas is one of the holidays included!

oldrnwisr

psinno wrote: »

Most non Christians in Ireland celebrate Christmas.

I'm sure that many do, however, you're missing the point. As The Randy Riverbeast has pointed out, Christmas isn't the only holiday celebrated at that time of year. People celebrate the end of December in almost all cultures and have been doing so since long before there were Christians. So the idea of Happy Christmas as if it was the only holiday at that time, given our increasingly multicultural society, is a bit silly.

Carlos Orange

oldrnwisr wrote: »

I'm sure that many do, however, you're missing the point. As The Randy Riverbeast has pointed out, Christmas isn't the only holiday celebrated at that time of year. People celebrate the end of December in almost all cultures and have been doing so since long before there were Christians. So the idea of Happy Christmas as if it was the only holiday at that time, given our increasingly multicultural society, is a bit silly.

Multiple holidays are celebrated by different cultures in the same month continuously. That doesn't mean they aren't distinct. Shoe horning them together is silly. Hanukkah isn't at the end of December , it has its own place in its own calender with its own meaning.

magicbastarder

psinno wrote: »

Most non Christians in Ireland celebrate Christmas.

i 'celebrate' christmas in the sense that i take time off, get drunk a few times, and buy friends and family presents.
but there's absolutely no religious aspect to my celebrations. so am i truly celebrating the birth of jesus?

Carlos Orange

magicbastarder wrote: »

i 'celebrate' christmas in the sense that i take time off, get drunk a few times, and buy friends and family presents.
but there's absolutely no religious aspect to my celebrations. so am i truly celebrating the birth of jesus?

Lots of things in life are multifaceted. No Christmas dinner?

magicbastarder

yes, there's no better way of honouring the birth of the baby jesus than eating too much and falling asleep at the table.

robindch

psinno wrote: »

Most non Christians in Ireland celebrate Christmas.

Haven't checked, but I'll put money down that for every atheist who wants the word "christmas" be banned, there's fifty christians who think that "christmas" is the only thing that's worth celebrating and that, all things considered, atheists should just be quiet about it!

Links234

Just leaving this here

fedor.2.

Links234 wrote: »

Just leaving this here

That's offensive

magicbastarder

why? you see representations of the crucified jesus on all sorts of things.

Doctor DooM

Wow, is it time for MrPuddings "tired old arguments about Christmas" thread already? I swear it's getting earlier every year.

Next year we'll be hearing about how we're hypocrites for taking a day off in September. It's consumerism gone mad like.

oldrnwisr

psinno wrote: »

Multiple holidays are celebrated by different cultures in the same month continuously. That doesn't mean they aren't distinct. Shoe horning them together is silly. Hanukkah isn't at the end of December , it has its own place in its own calender with its own meaning.

Except that you're not shoe horning them together. What you're doing is wishing someone good times whatever holiday they happen to be celebrating. If you meet someone on the street you can be nice to them and wish them a happy time without having to know or assume that they're a Christian. It's pretty straightforward.

The idea that people would get their knickers in a twist because some people are choosing to be nice in a different way to their own is just ludicrous. The important thing here is that people wish each other well, not how they say it.

magicbastarder

i'm just wondering that if we actually *did* declare 'war on christmas', what form would it take?

The Randy Riverbeast

magicbastarder wrote: »

i'm just wondering that if we actually *did* declare 'war on christmas', what form would it take?

Create a new holiday. We'll need a new person for it to be about, maybe a white man who leaves presents for children. Change the name to Xmas to remove Christ from it. Then just have it more about giving presents to each other and eating a lot of food so that people no longer focus on the birth of their god.

Im sure there is still stuff left we can steal from the pagans, maybe something to do with trees.

oldrnwisr

The Randy Riverbeast wrote: »

Create a new holiday. We'll need a new person for it to be about, maybe a white man who leaves presents for children. Change the name to Xmas to remove Christ from it. Then just have it more about giving presents to each other and eating a lot of food so that people no longer focus on the birth of their god.

Im sure there is still stuff left we can steal from the pagans, maybe something to do with trees.

Well there's always Festivus:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LbfMmCf5-ds

Frank Bullitt

robindch wrote: »

CNN interviews Josh Feuerstein, one of the "entrepreneurial bigots" behind the campaign - carcrash telly at its best:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ti629wLy4vU

Strange coincidence that he couldn't hear him there...more divine intervention.

Pherekydes

Don't forget that Jesus, if he existed, was almost certainly NOT born in December. Other, more reliable dates for his birth are April, May, September and October.

I think the "true Christians" should celebrate Christmas (Jesus' birthday) on April 20th.

Hotblack Desiato

The Randy Riverbeast wrote: »

Change the name to Xmas to remove Christ from it.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xmas

The "-mas" part is from the Latin-derived Old English word for Mass,[1] while the "X" comes from the Greek letter Chi, which is the first letter of the Greek word Χριστός which comes into English as "Christ".[2]

There is a common belief that the word Xmas stems from a secular attempt to remove the religious tradition from Christmas[3] by taking the "Christ" out of "Christmas", but its use dates back to the 16th century.

The Randy Riverbeast

Hotblack Desiato wrote: »

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xmas

I know that, the anti red cup brigade on the other hand...

Absolam

magicbastarder wrote: »

i'm just wondering that if we actually *did* declare 'war on christmas', what form would it take?

Tin soldiers mounted on rocking horses wielding candy cane lances assaulting the mountain stronghold of the teddy bears, whilst squadrons of angels carry out airborne assaults against the stars holding the high ground on the christmas tree. Cheery steam trains carry vital supplies from the far reaches of the living room, hoping to outrun the predations of plastic cowboys and indians. All captured on GoPros and streamed to iPads throughout the world as Hololens generals seek to sway the battles with minecraft constructed redoubts and exploding sheep.

At least I hope that's the form it will take.....

Peregrinus

I lean pacifist, but that's a war I'd support!

frostyjacks

Another day, another attempt to pretend we're not a Christian people. Sad really.

looksee

I have no problems saying Happy Christmas, or being wished Happy Christmas, even though I have no religious input and don't really like Christmas that much. Its a traditional festival in the middle of the winter; dress it up how you like, enjoy it, promote peace and charity.

If I were greeting people that I knew were of different religious beliefs I would be happy to wish them Happy whatevertheirfeastis, if I did not know what religious beliefs they had I might say happy holidays (though I doubt whether I would remember ) I would not mind if someone wished me happy hanukkah or whatever. I really do not see how evidence of other people's celebrations could be offensive, whatever the religion.

magicbastarder

frostyjacks wrote: »

Another day, another attempt to pretend we're not a Christian people. Sad really.

what attempt are you referring to? the starbucks cups?

lazygal

frostyjacks wrote: »

Another day, another attempt to pretend we're not a Christian people. Sad really.

Who is 'we're'?

frostyjacks

Yes, the coffee cups.

'We' as in the civilised people of western Europe and North America.

lazygal

frostyjacks wrote: »

Yes, the coffee cups.

'We' as in the civilised people of western Europe and North America.

Are those who aren't Christian in those areas still technically Christian? Like, say, Jewish or Hindu or Muslim or non religious people?

Doctor DooM

frostyjacks wrote: »

Yes, the coffee cups.

'We' as in the civilised people of western Europe and North America.

Uh... yeah, just checked, deffo not christian.

magicbastarder

frostyjacks wrote: »

Yes, the coffee cups.

'We' as in the civilised people of western Europe and North America.

'we' in the first post referred to christians.
'we' in the second post was referred to as 'the civilised people of europe and north america'.

there's a funny smell around here...

Links234

Frosty, you paint a pretty dire picture of your fellow faithful, as though Christians are so totally and utterly insecure that they must have their faith reflected back at them at all times in everything up to and including coffee cups.

Penn

frostyjacks wrote: »

Another day, another attempt to pretend we're not a Christian people. Sad really.

It's not an attempt to pretend we're not a Christian people. We're not a Christian people.

There are Christian people, and you can also have a Christian person, but unless everyone you include in "people" is Christian, you cannot have "a Christian people".

If you're only referring to Christians, then your mistake is suggesting Starbucks only sell to Christians. They don't. If you're referring to everyone Starbucks sells to, then your mistake is suggesting they're all Christian. They aren't.

Of course, if you're just making a flippant remark knowing it'll be argued with, you scored a proverbial touchdown.

frostyjacks

magicbastarder wrote: »

'we' in the first post referred to christians.
'we' in the second post was referred to as 'the civilised people of europe and north america'.

there's a funny smell around here...

They're one and the same. Isn't it rather odd that atheists would celebrate Jesus' birthday?