After a protest by the Catholic League, Texaco Inc. has withdrawn sponsorship of a controversial holiday festival. During the holiday season, the league complained to Texaco that the Festival of Trees and Lights displayed Jewish religious symbols but no Christian religious symbols; secular symbols associated with Christmas were all that were shown.
“Upon investigation of the religious circumstances of the Festival of Trees and Lights,” wrote the director of public relations for Texaco, “I agree with the observation that a lack of balance regarding religious symbols of the season exists.” He went to explain that as a result of this finding, Texaco has decided to withdraw sponsorship of the festival in 1997.
While the league is pleased with Texaco’s response, we would have been more pleased if the company had simply insisted that a nativity scene adorn the festival next year.
It speaks well for Texaco that this is the second time that the league has complained about some program that it was sponsoring, and in both instances it immediately dissociated itself from the event.
