The city of Santa Monica delayed a vote on the future of the nativity scene tradition in Palisades Park, reports CBS Los Angeles. The controversy follows last year's event in which all but three of the traditional 14 nativity scenes were used for more secular purposes. Last night, the city council held a contentious hearing that lasted past midnight, but in the end decided to wait until their June 12 meeting to decide. On one side of the debate are church groups that would like to prevent atheists from putting up signs that "denigrate" holiday tradition; on the other side are groups like the Americans United for Separation of Church and State, which argues that the city can't favor religious displays over non-religious displays. [CBS LA]
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