Christian evangelists claim Starbucks fanned ‘war on Christmas’ with

Apparently, ’tis the season for Starbucks purists to venti their heated opinions over the annual holiday #RedCup design.

Unfortunately for us, Breitbart’s Raheem Kassam has spotted the gambit, and he isn’t having it. In a post entitled “War On Christmas: Starbucks Red Cups Are Emblematic Of The Christian Cultural Cleansing Of The West”, Kassam tracks the descent of these cups’ adorable design from that of a “Christmas-oriented product” to the massacre of Western mores we have before us today. The color deepens from “bright poppy color on top that shades into a darker cranberry below”, the company announced. In fact, a mini-boycott may be brewing.

The chain was criticised yesterday as politicians and Christian groups rounded on its un-Christmassy red cups.

But even if a few folks are now snubbing Starbucks, it might be tough to hold out through the new year.

Pretty much immediately, photos began popping up all over social media with coffee drinkers showing off their handwritten “Merry Christmas” messages on their plain red Starbucks cups.

Starbucks has offered special holiday cups since 1997 with designs varying from year to year. Gone are the snowflakes, the swirls, the vintage ornaments and inspirational quotes that have traditionally adorned the tall, grande and venti cups holding your peppermint mocha and chestnut praline lattes.

“Starbucks has become a place of sanctuary during the holidays”.

Several Christian groups have taken offense to the new design, arguing that it represents growing secularism and a widespread “War on Christmas”. What started as a Starbucks #RedCups hashtag on social media, celebrating their release, has turned into a more gloomy one, #MerryChristmasStarbucks.

The narrator in the above-displayed video (note: it has been removed) asserts that Starbucks employees are “banned from saying Merry Christmas” and that the coffee chain removed its holiday symbols because they “hate Jesus”.

“This is a denial of historical reality and the great Christian heritage behind the American Dream that has so benefited Starbucks”, wrote Andrea Williams of the U.K.’s Christian Concern. The design is minimalistic, trendy, and Instagram-friendly, and according to the Starbucks website it was designed “to give people a piece of calm” during the holidays.