By: Miya Jones

On November 3rd, Starbucks came out with their new holiday cup, which lacked their typical Christmas decorations and this slight change ruffled the feathers of several people. The new Starbucks cup is a change from the usual snowmen, Christmas trees, and snowflakes that have been on the cups in previous years. Now it is a regular red cup.

The controversy over the cups, began two days after the cup came out when former pastor and Internet and Social Media personality, Joshua Feuerstein, made a viral video about how Starbucks wants to ‘take Christ and Christmas’ off their new red cups.

In the video, Feuerstein urged ‘great Americans and Christians’ to buy a Starbuck coffee and take their own coffee selfie to ‘start a movement’ using the hashtag #MerryChristmasStarbucks. Feuerstein along with other say that the cup is a symbol of war against Christianity. Feuerstein also said in the video in order to offend Starbucks he wore his Jesus Christ t-shirt and brought his gun into the store. Starbucks is opposed to having guns in their stores.

The video has received millions of views and millions of responses in favor of and against the video. In an article “War On Christmas: Starbucks Red Cups Are Emblematic Of The Christian Culture Cleansing Of The West”, Editor for Breitbart, Raheem Kaasam, reaffirms Feuerstein’s argument. “The Red Cups are now an anti-Christmas symbol, with Starbucks declaring their formerly Christmassy cups to be “holiday beverages” and shedding any sign of Christmas from them,” said Kaasam.

Others like Christian college student Nate Lake showed his disgust for Feuerstein’s video in a viral blog post entitled “Why #MerryChristmasStarbucks is Everything Wrong with American Christianity”. “Another reason #MerryChristmasStarbucks is everything wrong with American Christianity is its improper, miscalculated expectation of Christian values from a non-Christian entity,” said Lake. “Simply put, Starbucks is not a Christ-centered company.”

In an E! News interview a Starbucks representative responded to Feuerstein’s video. “In response to the video, our core values as a company are to create a culture of belonging, inclusion and diversity. Each year during the holidays we aim to bring our customers an experience that inspires the spirit of the season and we will continue to embrace and welcome customers from all backgrounds and religions in our stores around the world.”