The culture wars will be waged in Merced this holiday season.
After the city changed the name of its annual Christmas Parade to the "holiday parade," public pressure was so intense that the city backtracked and decided to keep the original name.
Now a national Christian legal aid group has jumped on a parade float.
On Monday the city received a letter from the group urging Merced to keep the name, "Christmas Parade."
The letter may have been a few days late, since the city already decided to keep the parade's original name. But it represents a sign that the long-running battle over the place of religion in public life is anything but dead.
Merced City Manager John Bramble said he was happy to receive the letter -- but, like most legal opinions, it's open to debate. "They could be right, I'm not an attorney," said Bramble. He said the city wasn't legally pressured into keeping the parade's original name.
It was all public pressure.
The letter was sent to the city by the Alliance Defense Fund, a group founded in 1994 to "defend religious liberty, the family and the sanctity of life." The group's Web site notes it believes the Bible is the word of God and that unbelievers and unrepentant sinners will go to hell.
The nonprofit, based in Arizona, said in a statement the city's decision to keep the name Christmas Parade was constitutionally protected.
"It's ridiculous that the people of Merced have to think twice about whether it's OK to have a 'Christmas' parade. An overwhelming majority of Americans celebrate Christmas and are opposed to any kind of censorship of Christmas," said ADF Senior Counsel Nate Kellum. "City officials shouldn't self-censor the perfectly constitutional name of their town's Christmas parade because of unfounded beliefs spread by groups hostile to our nation's traditions."
The city was handed the parade this year after its longtime sponsors said they didn't have the energy to organize the event.
City staff quietly renamed it the Holiday Parade in an effort to be inclusive and avoid a lawsuit involving the constitutional question over the separation of church and state.
The change was blasted by many residents as another indication of a society bent on political correctness at all costs. Residents called City Hall to complain and wrote letters to the editor of the Sun-Star.
Bramble said the city weighed the cost of a lawsuit against the community's wishes and decided to change the name.
A lawsuit could be filed, arguing that the city is endorsing one religion over another by organizing a Christmas parade.
The 15th annual Christmas Parade will begin at 3 p.m. Saturday on Main Street.
The parade's theme is "Sand, Surf & Santa." Floats can be decorated to reflect any religion. Entry applications must be turned into City Hall by 5 p.m. Monday.
Applications can be found on the city's Web site, www.cityofmerced.org, or at the Parks and Community Services office, 690 W. 16th St.
Residents can also get an application by calling the California Welcome Center at (209) 724-8104.
The day will also include an 11 a.m. craft fair and a 1 p.m. dedication to Susie Rossi, the woman who revived the Christmas Parade.
At least, that's what it's called this year.
Reporter Jonah Owen Lamb can be reached at (209) 385-2484 or jlamb@mercedsun-star.com.
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