Have You Had Your Cup of "Anti-God" Starbucks This Morning?

World giant coffee house company Starbucks, admits they want to spark conversation, and has "always supported good, healthy discussion in the tradition of coffee houses everywhere." That is the reasoning provided on the Starbucks web site behind their new campaign called The Way I See It. Not only is it getting people talking, but some of the anti-God messages are creating threats of boycotts. The The Way I See It campaign includes hundreds of thought-provoking quotes on various topics that are printed on the back of Starbucks cups. While Starbucks defends its campaign, some former customers are organizing boycotts, while others believe Starbucks is pushing God down people's throats.

You can view a total list of The Way I See It quotes on the Starbucks web site. A couple of the quotes that are sparking national controversy are:

The Way I See It #230 by Joel Stein, columnist for the Los Angeles Times:
Heaven is totally overrated. It seems boring, Clouds, listening to people play the harp. It should be somewhere you can't wait to go, like a luxury hotel. Maybe blue skies and soft music were enough to keep people in line in the 17ht century, but Heaven has to step it up a bit. They're basically getting by because they only have to be better than Hell.

The Way I See It #158 by Mike Doughty, musician:
It's tragic that extremists co-opt the notion of God, and that hipsters and artists reject spirituality out of hand. I don't have a fixed idea of God. But I feel that it's us - the messed-up, the half-crazy, the burning, the questing - that need God, a lot more than the goody-two-shoes do.

Not all of the messages are targeted toward religious beliefs. Tim Russert, host of NBC's Meet the Press and author of Wisdom of our Fathers, is quoted in The Way I See It #198:

You can shower a child with presents or money, but what do they really mean, compared to the most valuable gift of all - your time? Vacations and special events are nice, but so often the best moments are the spontaneous ones. Being there. Every moment you spend with your child could be the one that really matters.