Starbucks and the Game of Cups

I know, I know...Stabucks has a new cup.  Sigh.... Lets clear some stuff up.  First of all, I have seen it, I have drunk from it, and I find it attractive and inoffensive. It's actually a clever piece of art drawn by an artist by the name of Shogo Oto, a Japanese immigrant who was inspired by what a great place he thinks America is where people are free to live in harmony and equality (unlike his home nation which has actually enormous racial problems).  On the cup a single line draws all of the people the entire way through.  It was his way of saying we are all connected.  It's a nice sentiment and one that seems neither conservative nor liberal.   

Yes, Starbucks is a liberal company.  I visited the original Starbucks in Seattle this summer and Seattle, in fact all of Washington, is pretty liberal.  But, the cup was released because even the ultra-liberals in the leadership at Starbucks were upset with the way this election cycle has divided America.  They wanted a piece of art to give to people that says, we are all still connected as Americans, and I am OK with that. 
    Second of all, no, it is not the new Christmas cup.  It is November 2nd for heaven's sake. This, to the left,  is the new Christmas cup. It's a bird in a holly tree, or maybe coffee tree (which would make more sense).... but this is what the new Christmas cup looks like.  The Green Unity cup is just a temporary thing to say to America, "Hey, we are still one nation."  So.  Now that we have those two issues sorted, lets get to the real problem here: Advertising.  
    Yep, if you ask me the real evil of this season is not on a cup, it is in an ad on your internet.  The major news outlets make their money by selling ad space.  The more people they can get to click on their sites the more money they make.  So, they run with outlandish stories that titillate and outrage in hopes that it will draw more folks to their web sites.  

I think we have a case of people getting upset with the people who are upset about the people who got upset. 

Read that through a couple of times.  This news cycle is an ouroboros.  That is the mythical snake that eats its own tail only to grow longer from eating it in order to eat its own tail to grow longer.  The press outlets have settled on a few members of the lunatic fringe on both sides who are upset, presented them to us as though they were normative and now they are feeding off of the frenzy of us being upset with the upset people.  It's all a news trick to make money.  Saying that "Christians" are offended by this is like saying vegetarians are offended by animal crackers. Sure, there might be some vegetarians out there who feel the message that animal crackers send is too carnivorous. But, anyone with half a brain knows that they represent the merest sliver of the lunatic fringe. Shame on NBC and the rest of the media for treating the lunatic fringe as though they were normative.

    We need to be less gullible, and less reactionary.  And frankly, if Starbucks does not want to put out Christmas cups... Well,  I am absolutely certain that Starbucks is not written in the Lamb's Book of Life, so how is that surprising?  Starbucks is not part of the Kingdom of God and expecting them to behave like it is, is a little disingenuous.  

  Lets imagine for a moment that Starbucks reversed their position and released the Christmas cup of all Christmas cups.  Imagine that it is sooooo Christian that it makes Hobby Lobby and Chic-Fil-A both look like secular, godless corporations.  This cup has baby Jesus, a horde of angels, wise men, the scripture references from both Luke AND Matthew along with the Virgin Mary taking the place of the mermaid on the Starbucks logo.  Would this be an honest expression of faith?  Would it be that Starbucks the company was firmly pledging its allegiance to the Kingdom of God and belief in Jesus?  Nope.  At best it would be a publicity stunt, at worst it would be a blatant use of Christianity to make massive amounts of money by taking the very symbols of our faith and turning them into corporate shills.  That in itself would be the true abomination.  

   I would like it if they gave a nod to the season and respected our holiday enough to recognize it, but then if they don't it just makes it more important for those of us who's names ARE written in the Lamb's Book of Life, those of us who ARE in the Kingdom of God to speak out about Christ and the Christmas that celebrates him.  

It's a cup.  It is also a statement about our place in this new world. If we want to have a voice in the public square that speaks our truth it is going to have to be our own voices, we cannot sit back and goad non-Christian companies and institutions into doing our work for us.  And I am actually OK with that, it should have been our voices singing "Glory to God in the highest, and peace to his people on earth"  so all the world could hear.... all along.