LANSING, MI -- Michigan Republican National Committeeman Dave Agema continues to defend his decision to share an article warning parents about the "filthy lifestyle" of homosexuals, saying this week that Christians should help people "get out of it."

Agema, who is in Los Angeles representing Michigan at the RNC's annual spring meeting, discussed the controversy Wednesday on Washington Watch, a radio show run by the Family Research Council.

"What I'd like to have the homosexual community know is I don't hate them," he said. "As a matter of fact when Jesus caught a woman in the act of adultery when they brought her to him he said, 'I don't condemn you but go and sin no more.' That ought to be the church's goal here. We ought to be saying to these people, 'Hey, we don't agree with your lifestyle and we'll help you get out of it, but we want you to know the facts of what's going to happen to you if you stay in this lifestyle.'"

The former state representative from West Michigan entered the national debate on gay marriage two weeks ago by sharing an article on Facebook titled "Everyone Should Know These Statistics on Homosexuality," which began with a warning to parents that their children could be "indoctrinated" at public schools.

Agema repeated that claim on Wednesday, saying that school kids are already being conditioned to accept homosexuality and that "the next thing that will occur is your kids will come home and say, 'I think this is a good thing and I think I want to be one.'"

The article also described various health problems associated with "the lifestyle," citing sources from 1978 to 1994, including a non-practicing chiropractor with ties to white supremacist and anti-Semitic groups. Agema has since updated the "traditional marriage" section of his personal website with links to additional sources, including the Family Research Council.

"If you really love someone, if you really were concerned about someone, if you saw your friend for example dying of alcoholism would you just stand quietly by and watch it happen?" Agema said on the radio program. "Or would you speak up and say hey I want to help you. That's what we should be doing."

Gay and lesbian individuals do suffer from higher rates of some mental and physical health problems, but leading social scientists attribute many of those effects to "minority stress" and discrimination that can lead to risk-taking behaviors, including substance abuse.

While Agema's original post pointed to some real health problems, it was "incredibly dangerous" according to Dr. Judith Kovach, director of the Michigan Project for Informed Public Policy, because it was "based on the totally inaccurate belief that one's sexual orientation is a choice."

The Agema controversy began just days after the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in two gay-marriage cases and one week after the Republican National Committee released a report indicating that the party must "in fact and in deed be inclusive and welcoming" or risk losing young voters who increasingly support gay rights.

Agema, whose position gives him a voice in the development of party policy, has stressed the need for the GOP to maintain conservative principles. The MIRS subscription newsletter reports that an RNC panel this week unanimously approved an Agema resolution highlighting the differences between the Republican and Democratic parties, including the position that marriage is between one man and one woman.

A group of roughly 200 Michigan Republicans have called for Agema to resign his unpaid RNC post in the wake of his controversial comments, but many of the state's top GOP leaders have said little or simply distanced themselves from the situation.

Senate Majority Leader Randy Richardville, R-Monroe, said earlier Wednesday that he would not join the calls for resignation but suggested that Agema should be more cognizant of all Republican attitudes as he continues to represent the state at the national level.

"I don't agree with his comments, but he's not speaking on behalf of me or the caucus or, I don't think, most Republicans in general," Richardville said. "Dave Agema has a tendency to speak on his own behalf, and there's not much of a filter from what he believes and what he says."

Jonathan Oosting is a Capitol reporter for MLive Media Group. Email him, find him on Google+ or follow him on Twitter.