‘Tis the Season… for holiday controversies. And these are the biggest I have seen so far:
The ‘Starbucks Hates Christmas’ Controversy
In case you have been living under a rock and have not heard about this, let me break it down for you:
Starbucks puts out their holiday mugs. They are red.
A dude thinks the red cups are not “Christmassy” enough. He makes a viral video and does a Facebook rant claiming that Starbucks removed Christmas from their cups because they hate Jesus.
He manages to inspire people who are ordering coffee to say their name is “Merry Christmas” so the barista writes it on the cup.
Starbucks gets a HUGE amount of free publicity as a result.
My friend, Meredith Sinclair posted what I think might be the winning tweet on this topic.
Remembrance Day: The Early Christmas Decorating issue
Remembrance Day is on November 11th. Some excited Christmas lovers put up their house lights and decorations before Remembrance Day, much to the disgust of those who believe decorations should stay in their boxes until November 12th.
Many see early decorating as a sign of disrespect to Veterans. Here’s the thing – my pal, Chris Farias, made a pretty decent point about why many folks may decorate a little early. Once the clocks roll back an hour, the days become pretty long and dark. This can have a particularly negative effect on people who suffer from SAD (Seasonal Affectiveness Disorder). A lot of these folks use the Christmas/Holiday season to help them cope with the effects of SAD. It gives them that little emotional and mental lift – some holiday cheer during the dark season. Maybe, just maybe, people who decorate are not disrespectful of veterans. Perhaps they are just trying to survive.
Halloween: Trick or Treating with Jesus?
We have a neighbour who had a Jesus pumpkin this year. I have a friend whose children received a Bible in their trick or treat bags. Another received some Christian literature.
I have to be honest – I don’t really know much about the religious roots of Halloween and have always seen the night as an opportunity to costume up, run around in the dark for candy and chat with the neighbours.
I suppose I would have been a little surprised if I found something other than candy weighing down their candy bags (it would have been a first!) But I’m not sure it would have completely freaked me out.
Did you get sucked into any holiday controversies thus far? Do you have strong opinions about any or all of them?
