Is a Starbucks coffee cup worth the brouhaha?

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Courtesy newsroom.starbucks.com Courtesy newsroom.starbucks.com

A video posted last week regarding seasonal coffee cups used by Starbucks has gone viral, with Christians lining up as endorsers, but also critics of the video's central message that the cup is an example of Christian repression.

In the video filmed outside a Starbucks a cup of coffee in a solid red cup, purchased inside, is presented to show the lack of “Merry Christmas” printed in its design. Not only that, but employees are told to not say “Merry Christmas” to patrons, the video claims.

The controversy has made national news, with an underlying narrative not just if a holiday-season-specific coffee cup should contain the word “Christmas,” but whether Christians are out-of-bounds for suggesting the move was intentional.

Admitting fellow believers may not fully agree with him, Pastor Brian Carroll of Northside Baptist Church in Newnan began a series of posts on Twitter on the subject:

B Carroll Starbucks

From the other side of the state, Pastor Brad Whitt of Abilene Baptist Church in Martinez said there’s something else to consider in the controversy.

B Whitt Starbucks

Tastes vary, as Gregg Potts, pastor of First Baptist Church in Emerson, and Tony Pagliarullo, college minister at First Baptist Church in Statesboro, voiced their opinions on Facebook. Potts expressed the popular coffee vendor as a location he takes his wife and Pagliarullo his appreciation for relationships built in a location popular with many college towns such as Statesboro.

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On its website, Starbucks explained the plain red design as opening up space for customers to doodle on the cup, a practice observed for years. The coffee chain introduced is holiday beverages served in a unique cup in 1997.

coffee, culture, Starbucks