Ask People To Think And They'll Boycott The Crap Out Of You
Religious nutters are so easily offended. If they're so sure there's a god, why don't they just laugh off as stupid people like me who suggest that believing in god without any evidence makes about as much sense as believing there's a giant purple vagina hovering over your house -- at the ready to grant you three wishes?
A god-believin' Ohio Starbucks lover is now an ex-Starbucks customer, thanks to a message she read on one of their cups. Margo Rutledge Kissell writes about, well, let's call it "The Last Indignation of Michelle Incanno," in the Dayton Daily News:
Printed on the cup was: "Why in moments of crisis do we ask God for strength and help? As cognitive beings, why would we ask something that may well be a figment of our imaginations for guidance? Why not search inside ourselves for the power to overcome? After all, we are strong enough to cause most of the catastrophes we need to endure."It is attributed to Bill Schell, a Starbucks customer from London, Ontario, and was included on the cup as part of an effort by the company to collect different viewpoints and spur discussion.
"As someone who loves God, I was so offended by that. I don't think there needs to be religious dialogue on it. I just want coffee," said Incanno, a married mother of three who is Catholic.
She wasn't satisfied with a company disclaimer saying the quote is the author's opinion, not necessarily that of Starbucks. It invites customers to respond at www.starbucks.com/wayiseeit.
Starbucks spokeswoman Sanja Gould said the collection of thoughts and opinions is a "way to promote open, respectful conversation among a wide variety of individuals. "
But Incanno said her Starbucks days are over.
"I wouldn't feel right going back," she said.
via Romenesko's Starbucks Gossip
"As someone who loves God, I was so offended by that. I don't think there needs to be religious dialogue on it. I just want coffee," said Incanno, a married mother of three who is Catholic.
Obviously she's not heard the saying "A mind is like a parachute, it only works when it's open."
What difference does it make what's printed on the cup, if all you want is what's in it? Is it my imagination, or is the general population just intellectually regressing beyond redemption?
Flynne at May 17, 2007 10:23 AM
I find people are most defensive about beliefs they are incapable of defending.
Amy Alkon at May 17, 2007 11:01 AM
"As someone who loves God, I was so offended by that. I don't think there needs to be religious dialogue on it. I just want coffee,"
OH FOR THE.....
*sigh*...right.
Why, why, WHY do so many people think that being "offended" ENTITLES THEM TO SOMETHING?!?!?
But ok, fine, all she is doing is not going back. That is appropriate and does not detract from anyone else's coffee-going experience. The cafe will be all the better for it. You know, one less idiot to wait in line behind.
Besides, Jesus likes Seattle's Best Coffee better. He hangs out there with Santa Claus. I hear they are working on a script!
RedPretzel in LA at May 17, 2007 11:27 AM
Some people just like feeling indignant and offended, you know, like a victim of something or another. I think it's called a Martyr Complex, and the common medical cure is burning the patient at the stake. 100% success rate!
Chrissy at May 17, 2007 12:13 PM
It strikes me as really stupid for Starbucks to have printed this on their coffee cups, but I am not part of the coffee culture....
eric at May 17, 2007 12:23 PM
You know what I do Amy, I use peoples' own religion against them.
Some lutherian starts preaching I ask him why he belongs to a religion he belives to be false - afterall Martin Luther at the founding of the Lutherian church said it wasnt the true faith, just better than the catholic faith
Those damn Jehovas Winesses show up at my door at 6 in the fucking morning I ask them if only 144000 people get into heaven what makes them so sure that, out of the billons of people in all of history on this planet, plus the popultions on all the "worlds without end", they are getting into heaven.
I had an english buddy who was huge in the angelican church and would not stop trying to convert me, I asked him how he could belive in a faith which, aside from basically being catholocism with divorce, was started by a man who had half a dozen of his wives murdered?
You would not belive how effect a tool the bible is for ponting out massive logical flaws in every christian faith.
lujlp at May 17, 2007 12:40 PM
This - THIS is the comment that caused this woman to freak out? From the header/intro I thought it was going to be something much more along the lines of, "God SUCKS and you're all idiots for believing, you morons!" Sheesh.
Also, given the vast amount that has been written about religion - both officially (such as the Bible) and unofficially, couldn't she just, y'know, find a quote to send in herself? With perhaps a note that, as a regular Starbucks customer, she's responding to a specific cup, or something?
However...the sardonic side of me wonders if this woman would have gotten more deferential treatment from Starbucks if her priest had spoken about the "need" to stop the unbelievers, by violence if necessary. That seems to work fairly well for SOME people...
marion at May 17, 2007 1:17 PM
Dunkin Donuts has better coffee, without the pretentious vernacular.
MarkD at May 17, 2007 1:30 PM
If they're so sure there's a god, why don't they just laugh off as stupid people like me...
That's exactly what I do when I read things like that- but I am not as easily offended as some. People who wonder how someone could be so simpleminded as to beleive in something that there is no proof of share the same wonderment as people who do believe in God and wonder how others do not.
Perhaps I am a little more secure in my faith and just have the willpower to just mind my own business when I hear people talk bad about religion. One day we will all know who was right; no sense in closing off other people's ideas because we differ in one area.
Additionally, I drink to much overpriced, Jedi mind trick coffee from Starbucks to let something written on the side of their cups to deter my business.
Trickish Knave at May 17, 2007 1:34 PM
My comment is unclear. I meant "barrista' and "vente", not the slogan on their cup.
MarkD at May 17, 2007 1:34 PM
If you have reason-based beliefs, I think you're less likely to get all huffy and and wounded about mere thoughts and speech. And you're right, it's not like the cup said "god is a turd!" or anything.
Amy Alkon at May 17, 2007 1:59 PM
I think it's called a Martyr Complex
Bingo.
It's the reason why no one wants a "War on Christianity" more than....christians.
RedPretzel in LA at May 17, 2007 2:25 PM
I find the idea, perpetrated by Bill O'Reilly and others of his ilk, that Christians are persecuted, especially ridiculous. So, somebody says "happy holidays" instead of Merry Christmas at Macys. Deal with it.
Personally, I say Merry Christmas, but I can't bring myself to say "bless you," when somebody sneezes...as if their spirit may leave their body if I don't speak up fast. I sometimes say "santé" so people won't think I hate them, since it's a custom to say somethign when somebody sneezes, but nobody really thinks about or wonders why. Not that it's a big deal, but I just can't traffic in the evil spirits hooha.
Amy Alkon at May 17, 2007 3:08 PM
I prefer the term persecution complex. Their faith is always under attack by someone or something, even by the presence of a coffee cup.
Joe at May 17, 2007 3:08 PM
> One day we will all know who was right...
I think not. When I kick the bucket I won't have a working brain left with which to think "Nyah nyah, see I was right, there's no fucking heaven".
Stu "El Inglés" Harris at May 17, 2007 3:56 PM
Joe, you're right-it is a persecution complex. But then they still get to be martyrs! Yippee!!
Chrissy at May 17, 2007 4:28 PM
I typically just say, "Gesundheit" when someone sneezes...contrary to what many believe, it means not "bless you," but instead, "health." But I like "sante" - may try that in the future.
marion at May 17, 2007 5:33 PM
> One day we will all know who was right...
I think not. When I kick the bucket I won't have a working brain left with which to think "Nyah nyah, see I was right, there's no fucking heaven".
While the religious will be thinking, "Wow, that's guy's burning like Paris Hilton's crotch on a Saturday night"
Trickish Knave at May 17, 2007 5:49 PM
I think the questions on the cup are intelligent and worthwhile, and I have spiritual beliefs. It does seem a bit yuppie-pretentious of Starbucks to use cups to "collect different viewpoints and spur discussion," but whatever. Asking yourself such questions leads to forming your own faith or life philosophy, and the answers are different for everybody. To recoil from such questions and say that asking them is offensive and seeing them on a coffee cup is somehow infringing on your rights is just plain stupid, and ultimately dangerous. But yeah, that's how a lot of religion is.
Debra at May 17, 2007 5:49 PM
Listen, a person who avoids all manifestations of God-talk isn't evincing a greater refinement of atheism, only a snottier social presence. If you wanna say "heatlh" instead of "bless you," have at it. But it's silly to pretend that these rote customs have much to do with sincere belief.... Or to think that a better Atheist Tomorrow comes from pretending religion never happened.
Crid at May 17, 2007 5:57 PM
> I am not part of the
> coffee culture....
It's never too late. Remember that we're blessed over here... Children in China are sleeping...
Crid at May 17, 2007 6:14 PM
"I wouldn't feel right going back," she said.
Don't let the door hit you in the ass on your way out, dear.
Doobie at May 17, 2007 6:22 PM
The problem isn't her religious views were threatened by a mug. The dilemma is that her views should be made publicly validated by Starbucks and the community (media) as a whole. Michelle Incanno is a pathetic excuse of humanity and her antics exhibit all the evidence that I am correct in my assertion. Unfortunately, the article in the Dayton paper is going validate her cause and inflate an already enlarged ego.
The intelligent way in handling the matter would have St. Incanno to buy a share of Starbucks and attend the next shareholders meeting. Then she would have a right to bitch, complain and try to sway the larger shareholders to effect some change in company policy. Instead of annoying the rest of humanity who doesn't give a damn about her plight or passion of the fucking mug.
Joe at May 17, 2007 6:44 PM
I wonder if Caribou is there yet. She could have an Osama bin latte instead.
http://tinyurl.com/3xhbzb
Shawn at May 17, 2007 9:21 PM
Well, the party pooper, I bet she never ends reading her fortune cookies with, "between the sheets" either.
Conviction is good, but your honor shrinks with your inability to be open, flexible and free thinking beyond a perscribed dogma.
Sonja at May 17, 2007 10:02 PM
Obviously, her convictions are on shakey ground if a harmless opinion are going to drive her away from Starbucks. If someone actually does bring up the subject of what's on her cup, she could simply say, "I don't want to discuss religion" and change the topic.
As for the idea that what's on the cup is not important, I disagree. If it said "Osama bin Laden is a hero," or "Death to all Americans" on the cup, I wouldn't be going back either. But one person expressing his belief that there is no god? So, what?
Patrick at May 18, 2007 12:27 AM
If you don’t like what’s written on the Starbucks coffee cup, put it in one of those cardboard insulator things. It’s like concealing stuff in a “plain brown” wrapper if you think someone might be offended by what they see or perceive.
Problem solved.
My response to a multiple sneezer is very simple. First I say gesundheit, then bless you, and finally, damn.
Roger at May 18, 2007 5:00 AM
The problem isn't her religious views were threatened by a mug. The dilemma is that her views should be made publicly validated by Starbucks and the community (media) as a whole.
Joe nails it. As usual.
I'm less concerned with some woman's handwringing over a coffee cup than I am that a reputable news source thinks it deserves a prominent position in community discourse, alongside Iraq War coverage and local political issues.
There are many establishments I've refused to do business with because they offended me in some way. I just don't expect CNN to care.
Gary S. at May 18, 2007 9:58 AM
I believe that since we live in the good ole USA that we have the choice of where we want our hard earned dollars to go. That being said, she certainly does not have to go to Starbucks if she is offended by what her cup has written on it. That's one of the beautiful things about the US, we can get offended and choose not to spend our money there.
As for myself, I don't think I could be swayed away from Starbucks delicious Caramel Lattes (mmm... yummy) from that question. Maybe I'm just a coffee whore.
Besides, in my belief, God knows what is in your heart and I've never heard it been said that he cares whats in your tummy.
My Bologna Has A First Name at May 20, 2007 8:36 PM
This is typical of the religious ignoramuses.
Boycott Teletubbies because the purple one is gay! (Or is it blue?)
Boycott Harry potter because our kids will become Satanic witchcraft practitioners!
(Harry likes to masturbate horses, too)
Boycott nipples because they are the naughty part of the breast! (Bad Janet Jackson)
This is obviously an uneducated narrow minded sheeple trying to be elitist and drink Starbucks to see how the other half lives when she is not buying X-tian themed items made with Taoist Chinese slave labor at Wal-Mart.
Also thinking that she will HURT those liberal, godless, coffee pushers by denying them her business is another "I'll show them God's righteous judgment" mentality that baffles me.
If Satan can ruin your day because of a question on the side of a paper cup, your religion has made you weak and fearful beyond any good it has done for you.
Martin at May 22, 2007 9:07 PM
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