Judge denies bid for Nativity displays in Santa Monica

[jimnyc]

I guess it's that time of year again. 60 years of this scene and now it's gone. Maybe in another 20 years or so Christmas will have vanished altogether.

The city of Santa Monica can bar seasonal displays, including a Nativity scene that has appeared in Palisades Park for nearly 60 years, a federal judge ruled Monday.

In a closely watched case that has attracted national attention, Judge Audrey B. Collins denied a request from the Santa Monica Nativity Scenes Committee to erect multiple large displays depicting the story of the birth of Jesus in the park overlooking the ocean. The coalition of churches has erected the displays every December since the 1950s.

But last year, after requests for display spots exceeded the space allotted, the city held a lottery to allocate spaces. Atheists won 18 of 21 spots. A Jewish group won another. The traditional Nativity story that used to take up 14 displays was crammed into two.

Controversy erupted, and as a result, the city decided the lottery would become increasingly costly. Last June, the City Council voted to ban all private unattended displays.

In October, Nativity scene proponents filed suit in federal court to allow the traditional Christian displays to continue. In a 27-page tentative ruling, Collins denied the group permission to erect their displays this year while the case is pending.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lano...ge-rules-.html

[tailfins]

The disheartening thing is even if they win, it puts Christians in victim mode as a complainant seeking redress for discrimination. Do you savor the idea of needing to rely on the EEOC or a civil rights lawsuit to keep a nativity scene up?

[aboutime]

Who really cares about Santa Monica?

Like the rest of the state, and every town across this nation where IDIOTS rule. Nothing new.

Let them do whatever they want. It's all in keeping with the LIES being repeated across this nation from the Obama admin, and the Democrats.

If Santa Monica feels offended at a Nativity.

Seems they should seriously be thinking about CHANGING the name of their city from SANTA to SCROOGE!