The Telegraph (N.H.), Nov. 13:

Some people aren’t happy unless they have some-thing to complain about. Into that category we would place those who have raised a fuss about Starbucks rolling out red cups for the holiday season and declaring that the company is waging a “war on Christmas” because the cups lack any specific visual homage to the Christian holiday.

The issue is a red herring, if you’ll pardon the expression, borne of a holier-than-thou mindset that is the very antithesis of the Christmas spirit.

We’ll give Christmas its due as the pinnacle of the holiday season. It’s a time of year when people are just nicer and more thoughtful of others, especially of those who might not be able to afford a cup of Starbucks coffee and would hardly care what color cup it came in if someone bought them one. Instead, they would be grateful for the hot drink and even more appreciative of the kindness behind it. Putting “Merry Christmas” or a snowflake on the cup wouldn’t make it any more or less welcome.

Starbucks waging a “war on Christmas?” Hardly. The real war is being waged against the Christmas spirit by those who feel the need to gripe because the red-and-green cups aren’t up to their phony standards.

As if the world doesn’t have bigger problems.

Then again, perhaps those complainers have done the world a kindness by forcing people to think twice about what Christmas is really about. If that’s the case, we say, “Thanks, Starbucks.”

We see the legacy of Jesus Christ – whose life and lessons the holiday celebrates – all around us in the Salvation Army bell-ringers, those who contribute to The Telegraph’s Santa Fund and a thousand other acts of charity large and small performed right here in our backyard.

We also see the Christmas spirit carried out year-round. It’s there in the hearts of the volunteers who show up every day to help at the Nashua Soup Kitchen and Shelter. It’s also reflected in the deeds done by the likes of Fidelity Investments, whose employees have contributed mightily over the years to Nashua schools as part of the company’s annual community service day. Most recently, they built an outdoor classroom and greenhouse for Elm Street Middle School in August.

Nobody asks the good people who participate in those causes what religion they happen to subscribe to as a condition for their kindness.

It hardly matters, though we’d be surprised if all faiths weren’t represented.

We’d like to think we live in a world in which those who receive seasonal greetings or gestures could accept such things in the spirit in which they are given, regardless of how it is couched or the religious motivation behind it. We have no beef with “Merry Christ-mas,” “Happy Hanukkah” or “Happy Holidays.”

Maybe those who take offense to one greeting or another because they feel the need to apply a bogus religious litmus test need something to complain about.

If that’s the case, they also need all the kindness and good wishes we can send their way, at least as much as the destitute, for they are the poor of soul.

And for those who must take umbrage at Starbucks because their red and green cups aren’t “Christmasy” enough? Well, Dunkin’ Donuts serves coffee, too.