These Starbucks cups were banned from the location at Baylor University because the quote was apparently inappropriate for a Baptist university. I should be writing about this, and I'll be sure to post a link to my column next week. Gay or straight, it's a good quote and good advice.
Instead of being in Spring, Texas, right about now, eagerly awaiting the Coldplay concert at The Woodlands on Saturday, I am stuck in Abilene, cursing the name Rita and everything related to hurricanes. I'm crossing my fingers that the concert will be rescheduled. If it's not, I may just have to drive to a random state to see my favorite band play. If ever there were a weekend I needed to get out of dodge, this was it.
Go to this site and see some cool videos done for the Optimist. If you watch the ones for Homer Hiccolm and the Night Riders and look closely, you will see my crazy roommate.
In other multimedia news, this video is hi-larious. Yes, it's old news. But you know what? Tom Cruise is still crazy.
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8 comments:
I think your missing a key element of Christianity in admiring the message of the cup entirely -- that jesus calls us not to be the people we are but the people we should be. Consider:
"My only regret about being a racist is that I repressed it for so long. I surrendered my youth to the people I feared when I could have been out there with people who think like me. Don't make that mistake. Life's too damn short."
No the problem is life's too damn long -- eternal life, that is -- to be driven by our physical desires or our prejudices.
Just a foretaste of the discussion to come...
OK, I'm revoking your posting priveledges.
I think you're missing the point entirely, so this discussion won't be easy.
Oh, and you have several typos in your post.
Good point, Kenneth. This gay guy sneezed on me the other day and I almost turned gay myself. Fortunately, some nearby Christians tied him to a fence in Wyoming and left him to die. Man, that was a close one.
Look, it's a cup. A stupid coffee cup. If you really want to get your panties in a religious twist, then why not have Baylor only allow businesses on campus that are owned by outspoken Christians?
Anyway, since you started the trend of replacing the words in Maupin's quote, I'll continue with a version of my own:
"My only regret about being a [conservative Christian from Texas] is that I [had to live with] it for so long. I surrendered my [free will and independent thought] to the [zealots] I feared when I could have been out there with people who think like me. Don't make that mistake. Life's too damn short."
Daniel raises an important question. If you say a man having sex with another man is a sin, does that make you a homophobe?
No. Freaking out about coffee cup ads makes you a homophobe.
If these Baylor kids want their soy lattes, then they're gonna have to put up with the quote.
Seriously, not that I don't respect your arguments, but I think you're talking about another topic. I just think it's dumb for Baylor to get upset about one of the many cheesy, meant-to-be-inspirational-but-ultimately-not-that-fulfilling quotes Starbucks plasters on its cups. Are they upset about any other quotes? I've seen them on Starbucks cups before, and while they don't often mention sexual orientation, the sources of the quotes aren't all Christians. Why isn't Baylor banning those? My point is that some Christians seem eager to ban some "non-Christian" things and embrace others.
We're talking past each other on two things.
1. On Baylor's decision, which I'm arguing less about, it's within its rights to tell Starbucks to remove a message that conflicts with the university's position, especially when there's a potential for endorsement. And I'd probably say it's the right thing to do.
2. The more pressing issue is whether the statement itself "is good advice for anyone, gay or straight." That depends.
1. Okay. I imagine the cups are orgazined by these quotes, or I guess they could be, so Starbucks would probably be fine with not shipping those cups to Baylor as long as they keep getting Baylor's checks in the mail. Another small-town tempest in a teapot. Next week: Pledging condemned all over again.
2. Then you've actually got a beef with my sister. And can I just say from living with her for 16 years: Good luck with that.
You should both know that made me laugh out loud.
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