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Battle over Christmas displays

A woman walks her dog along the dirt path behind the Nativity scene at Pacific Palisades Park along Ocean Avenue.

A woman walks her dog along the dirt path behind the Nativity scene at Pacific Palisades Park along Ocean Avenue.  (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

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In Santa Monica, a battle over Christmas displays takes a new twist: Atheists win a majority of exhibit spots in a city park, displacing most of the traditional Nativity scenes, as the nation’s annual tussle over religious displays on public land heats up.

Pacific Palisades Park

Atheists groups have posted signs where Nativity scenes had been in previous years at Pacific Palisades Park along Ocean Avenue in Santa Monica.  (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

Pacific Palisades Park

Vikki Hill of Santa Monica protests in front of an atheist group’s display at Pacific Palisades Park along Ocean Avenue.  (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

Pacific Palisades Park

A man strolls past a display showing a Nativity scene along Ocean Avenue at Palisades Park in Santa Monica Tuesday.  (Ringo H.W. Chiu / Associated Press)

Pacific Palisades Park

A jogger moves past one of the holiday signs along Ocean Avenue at Palisades Park in Santa Monica on Tuesday.  (Ringo H.W. Chiu / Associated Press)

Pacific Palisades Park

A woman walks past a sign displaying an atheist message along Ocean Avenue at Palisades Park in Santa Monica.  (Ringo H.W. Chiu / Associated Press)

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