The book alleged that there was a liberal antagonism toward the holiday. This was further exacerbated by Fox News’ host Bill O’ Reilly who went on to accuse liberals of “tying the Christmas situation into secular progressive politics.” In essence, some people believe there is a systematic attempt to eliminate anything that is remotely religious from Christmas. In particular, some Christians believe Christ is being taken out of Christmas and Donald Trump has used this “War on Christmas” as an example and a political promise to bring back Christmas. The problem is that Christmas never left. There is no evidence of an organized attack on Christmas in the United States. Christmas is a holiday like any other holiday and is celebrated differently by many people who share many backgrounds and many beliefs. However, the controversy does not seem to have hurt the show’s favorable standing with the masses. A recent poll found that Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer was among the most beloved Christmas movies with 83% of participants finding it favorable. However, Hallmark really offended some people with their Christmas sweater design in 2013. Can you figure out why by looking at the picture? Hallmark changed the word “Gay” with “Fun” (the original lyrics to the song on the shirt are “Don we now our gay apparel”). The change caused many to label Hallmark as “homophobic” with some people calling for a boycott. Hallmark later apologized in a statement: “We’ve been surprised at the wide range of reactions expressed about the change of lyrics on this ornament, and we’re sorry to have caused so much concern.” Every year, Starbucks unveils their Christmas cups, much to the delight of everyone, right? Wrong. Unfortunately, Starbucks’ Christmas cups are one of the main Christmas controversies found on this list. Even though Starbucks has been designing Christmas cups since 1997, their cup controversies started in 2015 with Starbucks’ unveiling of their all red Christmas cup design. What was meant to be a “design that welcomes all of our stories” turned into a design that some felt excluded theirs. Christians argued the cup was an attempt “to take Christ and Christmas off of their cups.” Ever since then, Starbucks has found a way to unintentionally piss-off this particular group of people. It’s important to note that Starbucks’ Christmas cups have been predominantly secular since their inception.
