It's that special time of the year again. Time to break out the eggnog and mistletoe if you haven't already. And for the love of Father Christmas, people, don't forget the breath mints. Quick side note though, if you use that Christmasy dangling plant as an excuse to smooch someone unexpectedly... you're a rapist. At least according to the Irish police.

Police have warned Christmas party goers to obtain consent before kissing under the mistletoe otherwise they may be guilty of rape.

The advice came in a tweet, since deleted, by the Police Service of Northern Ireland which has been criticized for "trivialising" sexual violence.

The force, which has 159,000 followers, tweeted on Saturday: "If you bump into that special someone under the mistletoe tonight, remember that without consent it is rape #SeasonsGreetings".

In other words, Merry Christmas... and don't forget not to rape people, you rapist.

Such holiday cheer. File this one under the worst use of Christmas hashtags ever. Because tacking #SeasonsGreetings onto your SJW nonsense doesn't magically make it warm and seasonal. Try again.

By the way, let's address the real heart of the issue here. This POLICE FORCE, which consists of law enforcement officials, just said an unwanted kiss equals rape. So... that's a thing.

The fine people of Twitter didn't take too kindly to the sentiment. Can't say I blame them.

Some respondents suggested PSNI had failed to understand the law regarding rape, while others said it showed the organisation had a "warped view of the world".

One Twitter user wrote: "Bumping into someone, under the mistletoe, is now considered rape? Why do you trivialise such a serious issue with such a nonsense tweet?"

Another responded: "This tweet tells people that a kiss is rape. Do you realise what you've said?"

The tweet was subsequently deleted, with the force later saying it had been "taken out of context".

First it was this: UK Police Now Deem Staring at Woman’s Breasts a 'Hate Crime.' Yes, Really... And now we're here. Fending off mistletoe "rapists" with seasonal police tweets. Can 2017 just be over yet?

For the record, sneakily snogging a non-consenting person under the mistletoe still makes you a douche. Just not a rapist. There's a slight difference between the two, which the police are forgetting here. Not surprising, considering Europe has a bad habit of conflating social justice with the law. The two don't mix well. Much like spicy Christmas tamales and an unprepared anus.

Speaking of anuses, take it away Lena Dunham:

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