In Michael Weinstein’s world, those who support him are his friends, and those who oppose him are his enemies.  So it was with great joy that he publicized articles by his “new friend” Drew Miller, writing at PolicyMic — a ‘fan based’ site that highlights articles based on the controversy they create.

Miller wrote a series of three articles that essentially repeat, without critical thought, Michael Weinstein’s talking points.  He opens with the calm, balanced statement that Christians are trying to take over the military:

The underlying sentiment — that the military consists solely of believers, should be run as a Christian organization, and should seek to impose spiritual standards on its soldiers — is one of the most destructive threats to the efficacy of our military…

He even revived the story of Jeremy Hall, the one-time MRFF plaintiff whom Weinstein long ago discarded.  But the actual story wasn’t sensational enough, so Miller embellished it a bit:

Army Specialist Jeremy Hall, who was sent home from Iraq in 2006 because the military could not protect him from Christians in our own army.

As with others who support and work for the MRFF — like infrequent research assistant Chris Rodda — Miller provides no evidence to support his claim.  (The claim is false, by the way.) Miller also characterizes another incident in a categorically false way:

it’s a good idea to examine how Campus Crusade for Christ (later CRU) convinced the U.S. government to fund Christian missionaries.

Like the prior citation, Miller’s accusation is sensationalist fiction; it simply never happened.  Miller’s second and third articles are little better, and are just press releases advocating for Weinstein’s cause.

Yet Weinstein ate it up — calling it “brilliant:”

Brilliant article from my new friend, Drew Miller!

Maybe Miller will join the MRFF as another Weinstein “special assistant.”

For his part, Miller finally revealed his own bias not long after writing the articles:  Miller said Weinstein is his “hero:”

Affirmation from Weinstein, a personal hero, was fantastic…

It’s not hard to get “affirmation” from Weinstein when you take his own sensationalized stories, add fiction to them, and re-tell them in his favor.  (Try telling the truth about Weinstein’s crusade and see what happens… and it ain’t “affirmation.”)  What Miller has ultimately done is prove to the world he is incapable of critically thinking — and then writing objectively — about a subject or person in whom he has a personal emotional investment.  (He joins a line of “journalists,” including Pam Zubeck and Sally Quinn, with the same issue.)

Ironically, Miller’s pieces were largely panned by PolicyMic’s own contributors:

[The article is] Pure gobbledygook filled with decontextualized claims and shoddy juxtapositions. Religious observance in the military is extremely low. Yes, lots of soldiers subscribe to the Disney School of Theology (“God likes you and wants you to be happy”) and those sorts of assumptions are implicitly written into military culture, but, then, so is promiscuity. Atheists might feel persecuted at times, but so will the devout Catholic who believes in fidelity. Which is more religiously persecuted?

One PolicyMic “pundit” made an astute observation about the irony of Miller’s own “solution” to the problem of Christians in the military.  Miller said

It will take…a whole lot of tolerance for those who don’t share the “right” beliefs.

Perhaps if Miller (a self-described atheist) and his “personal hero” Weinstein had a “whole lot of tolerance” for Christians, they would support religious freedom instead.

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