Michael “Mikey” Weinstein targeted two Nativities erected on Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.

A pair of Nativity scenes, one in the dining room for prison camp guards, are apparently causing a bit of a stir among a few troops at this remote outpost…

Ironically, Weinstein’s own letter undermined his cause, when one of an anonymous 18 complainants wrote [emphasis added]:

When they finally have time to relax with their military family they should not have to feel uncomfortable, out of place, or insignificant because their beliefs are not represented.

So its not about the presence of the Nativity, but the absence of other beliefs? Odd thing is, no one has complained that GTMO prohibited other displays, though its unclear what other belief systems celebrate Christmas. (GTMO residents say the base has been fairly public about several holidays, including Ramadan and Hanukkah.)

Weinstein, a former lawyer, called the displays “wholly unconstitutional,” but said moving them to the chapel would be “constitutionally acceptable.” The non-practicing lawyer declined to provide anything other than his own opinion to support his assertion.

For the record, no policy, law, or judicial precedent says a Nativity can’t be in a shared space but can be on the chapel grounds.

Further, the displays were erected by foreign contractors as simple decorations.  Much like Shaw AFB, the military reacted in response to exactly zero complaints from US troops — and removed the displays.

“No one’s ever complained to me about it. We’ve been doing it for 10 years,” said Capt. J.R. Nettleton, commander of this Navy base…

Still, he said, he took a look at the two créches in the dining rooms and concluded the more suitable place to put them was, as recommended, in the base chapel on a hilltop above the McDonald’s.

“The spirit of the Navy’s policy on this is, if it’s religious, it goes to the chapel,” Nettleton told the Miami Herald after a day of controversy. “It’s more appropriate there.”

The commander of the Guantanamo Bay naval base decided Wednesday to move Nativity scenes from two dining halls following complaints that the decorations improperly promoted Christianity.

Both Nativity scenes will be moved to the courtyard of the base chapel, said Kelly Wirfel, a spokeswoman for Capt. John Nettleton, commander of the base in southeastern Cuba.

Despite the statement about of “Navy policy,” the Pentagon has stated it is a local commander’s decision.  GTMO pulled the displays and moved them to the chapel grounds not because anyone complained to them or because any policy required it.  They did so only because of Michael Weinstein (though it took a bit more than the 2 hours Shaw reacted in).

Also at FoxNews.

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