The program has already come under fire for being booked and presented in probable violation of Michigan laws related to sex-education programming. A Michigan Messenger investigation found that two districts — Homer and Olivet — failed to get the program approved by the sex-education advisory board and the school board, while Marshall schools failed to get approval of the state board of education. All three district failed to provide parents the opportunity to opt their youth from the school assembly, as required by Michigan law.

Based on a review of the presentation, called Wise Choices and presented by Barb and Rick Wise, Michigan Messenger was able to identify a series of pieces of misinformation about HIV as well as a statement mis-characterizing a University of Chicago study on sex and relationships. A video of the presentation is available at Access Vision, the Battle Creek cable access station. It is listed as Wise Choices and was uploaded to the site on Oct. 17 at 4:47 p.m.

The program reported that all forms of sexual behavior transmit HIV, that only four body fluids transmit the virus, that HIV can survive in general human environments outside of the body and that saliva only can be infectious.

In addition, Barb told students that the University of Chicago study (PDF) found that married couples had more gratifying sex lives than couples in dating relationships or those co-habitating. But the study says the exact opposite:

“An unexpected finding, contrary to prior research, was that non-marital relationships, such as cohabitation and dating, were associated with higher levels of subjective sexual well-being than marriages, particularly for men.”

The Wises did not return an email seeking comment about the alleged misinformation.

The training of Barb Wise in abstinence-only education is also under scrutiny. She is certified by a program called W.A.I.T. Training in Colorado. That program was blasted by a 2004 report (PDF) from U.S. Congressman Henry Waxman of California for providing false information about HIV.

But experts who Michigan Messenger shared the video of the presentation with generally condemned the presentation.

“Distorting scientific data is, unfortunately, the way of all cynical politicians,” said Gloria Brame, a certified clinical sexologist who holds a doctorate in human sexuality. “However, in this case, it could simply be the blind leading the blind, as one must assume that the very people who are lobbying for abstinence ed are themselves ignorant on the science of sex, and thus the most likely people to misunderstand or misuse scientific data. I realize there may well be physicians and psychologists on board with the abstinence issue in Michigan but, again, I’ll say that this is about religious belief dictating opinion, and not the facts.

“Again, abstinence ed programs omit the scientific data and replace it with religion-based beliefs about how God expects people to behave. That should not be taught in public schools, but in churches.”

Jeff Montgomery, a spokesperson for the Woodhull Sexual Freedom Alliance, also condemned the presentation.

“I agree that if her audience are high school students, this is awful. Especially those who are coming to terms with their sexual identity. They are left feeling, perhaps, like freaks. Not to mention the misinterpretation of the HIV information,” the Detroit based activist said, noting that the program excluded messages for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youth, focusing only on no sex before marriage messaging. “The implied (if not overt) demonizing of unmarried sexual activity and the promotion of strict monogamy does nothing to promote healthy, informed sexual choices. This woman’s presentation is not helpful or healthy. Sexual discussion is far too important to be left to inexperienced, subjective hands. We know more today about sexual development and sexual diversity than at any time in history. We should encourage serious, comprehensive and intelligent sex education. The health and safety of generations are on the line.”

Marshall Public Schools issued a statement saying the concerns raised were something they would take into account in future considerations of the program.

But Olivet School officials did not take well to the concerns and criticisms raised. In a letter to Messenger, Olivet Interim Assistant Superintendent Brooke Judd wrote:

For the most part, everyone I spoke to felt as if the decision to bring in the Wise presentation was in line with our community values. I acknowledge that we did not follow proper procedures in bringing them to present to our students, and if the opportunity ever arises again, we will be sure to meet all legal obligations prior to their presentation.

Olivet High School Health Instructor Gabe Priddy went further. In an email to Michigan Messenger, he alleged the questions about the misinformation — which were documented with links to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta and the University of Chicago study itself — were “loaded.”

“The questions you raise have more to do with your political agenda against Mr. and Mrs. Wise than they are based on facts,” Priddy said. “In my professional opinion the information given was accurate according the training I have received from the State of Michigan. It was also a very powerful and responsible message for teenagers to hear.”

Priddy also claimed the information presented by the Wises was in line with the health education text book used in Olivet Schools.

Michigan Department of Education officials did not return multiple emails seeking clarification of what information should be taught in Michigan schools.

“If he was educated in reproductive health, then he knows the number one method of prevention of HIV is condoms. If they don’t educate about condoms, they are not educating about how to prevent HIV. It’s that simple,” says sexologist Brame. “It has no basis in science or fact as an effective approach to adolescent sexuality. Of all the things that those speakers addressed, actually almost none of it addressed core issues in sexual health. Rather, it was a personal narrative, telling the stories of their lives as a way of proving to gullible teenagers that sex leads to disease and death. It is a negative and hateful message to send young people who are struggling to control and deal with new feelings and desires.”

A controversial prayer rally took place at Ford Field Friday and Saturday but many mainline Christian leaders protested the event, calling out organizers for their anti-Muslim, anti-gay and even anti-Catholic views.

The Detroit Free Press reports:

Organizers for Engle’s prayer event were expecting 50,000 to 70,000 people to show up, but the crowd size was markedly smaller than that, with much of the stadium unfilled. They also were heavily targeting African Americans in Detroit, but most of the crowd was white.

“Their message is not one of inclusion; it’s of hate,” said Jennifer Teed of Detroit, who opposed Engle’s prayer event. “I don’t see how that’s religious.”

She held up a sign that read, “All are people” and “Standing on the Side of Love.”

The protest against Engle featured Catholic, Baptist and Methodist pastors from Detroit, as well as gay rights and women’s activists. Chanting “Stop the hate” and “Spread the love,” the protesters said the prayer rally inside the stadium promotes division and intolerance.

“God did not call us to hate,” said the Rev. Charles Williams of Historic Solomon Baptist Church in Detroit.

Organizers of the rally have made many statements of an extreme nature in the past, including claiming that a member of the Michigan Senate gave them access to the chambers at the Capitol to declare a divorce decree between American and Baal.

While some Detroit-area ministers are actively participating in this weekend’s prayer rally at Ford Field, others are speaking out against the rally as a result of some of the anti-Muslim and extremist views of the rally’s organizers.

Rev. Charles Williams II, Pastor of Detroit’s Historic King Solomon Baptist Church and a member of People For the American Way’s African American Ministers in Action , urged people of faith to reject the divisive and politically charged extremism of The Call, and to join together in prayer for a future that lifts up all the people of Michigan, regardless of faith and ethnicity.

“All of us in Detroit have been praying hard for the future of our city and everyone in it,” said Rev. Williams. “We need to keep on praying and we need to keep on working hard for economic and social justice that lifts up every person, rich and poor. What we don’t need is more divisiveness and fear.

“Religious leaders who support this event should really take a look at what its undertones are all about. As a Christian pastor I support prayer, but not to bash another religion, nor to hide behind the subterfuge of political gamesmanship.

“Our Muslim neighbors in Detroit and Dearborn want the same things that all of us want – jobs to support our families and the freedom to live our lives as we choose. Those like Rev. Engle who come into the state stir up fear about a mythical ‘Muslim takeover’ and set us against each other, distract from the real problems that we face. We can’t face our problems and lift ourselves up if we are busy tearing each other down. Let’s work, and pray, together for the future of our city.”

Lou Engle, the primary force behind the rally, has specifically targeted the Muslim population of Dearborn for conversion and claimed that they want to turn Michigan into the first Muslim state.

Transformation Michigan is a conservative Christian group with a history of presenting the views of anti-Muslim extremists, including Rick Joyner, who is also involved with The Call Detroit rally, and Jerry Boykin. Both of them are part of the leadership team that organized the Detroit prayer rally.

Boykin is a former Lt. General who was forced to step down in 2003 after he told a church group, while wearing his uniform, that the U.S. was engaged in a Christian war against Islam. The Bush administration was particularly sensitive to sending a message to the Muslim world that America is at war with their religion rather than with those who commit terrorism in the name of that religion.

Boykin has argued that Islam “should not be protected under the First Amendment” and that they should not be allowed to build mosques anywhere in the United States.

Rick Warzywak of Transformation Michigan held a conference call in May of this year with Kim Clement, one of the “prophets” involved with the organization, who said that God had told him directly that this weekend’s event is going to convert millions of Muslims to Christianity all over the world. Clement will be speaking at the prayer rally.

As we reported last week, the man leading the rally, Lou Engle, has explicitly said that one of his main goals is to convert Muslims. He also made the entirely unsupported claim that Muslims are trying to turn Michigan into the nation’s first Muslim state.

Some of the local ministers planning to take part in the event are being questioned on some of the more controversial things Engle has said over the years. In addition to his stated desire to convert millions of Muslims, he has also said that the purpose of these prayer rallies is to convert gay people into straight people “by the power of God.”

Engle held a similar rally in Uganda last year, during which his fellow “apostles” promoted and supported a bill still being considered by that country that would put many gay people to death and imprison anyone found to be gay. Engle put out a press release saying that he did not support the bill and that it was promoted only after he had to leave early to catch a plane, but in fact the person speaking before him on the stage had called for its passage. Engle said he supported those who wanted to “lessen the penalties” in the bill, but not eliminate them.

And just this week, Engle told a church group that if the Detroit prayer rally is not sustained, “you open a vacuum for demons seven times worse to come in , if black and white can’t move together in prayer and sustain it, forget it let’s not even go there, you get demons seven times worse.”

Both Homer Community Schools, located south of Battle Creek in Calhoun County, and Olivet Community Schools located in southern Eaton county, played host to the Colorado-based abstinence-only education program called “Wise Choices” earlier this year. But documents obtained under the Michigan Freedom of Information Act show that the program was not properly approved as required under Michigan law, nor were parents informed of the program and given the change to have their children opt out of the assemblies, also required under Michigan law.

Marshall Public Schools also hosted the program, and documents obtained from that district show that while the program was approved by the sex education advisory committee, there is no evidence the program approval was forwarded to the Board of Education. In addition, while the school sent out a newsletter indicating the program was about sexual health, the district did not inform parents of their right to opt their children out of the program.

Under law, sex education programs are supposed to be approved by a sex education advisory committee appointed by the district. That committee reviews curriculum and assemblies and refers it to the district board of education. The board is then required to hold two public hearings before approving the new curriculum information.

Michigan Messenger’s FOIA request asked for “minutes of the Olivet Community Schools Sex Education Advisory Committee in which the approval of the Wise Choices program was authorized under state law.”

Rob Ridgeway, superintendent of Homer Community Schools, responded that this documentation, “Does not exist. There are no dates or minutes of the Homer Community Schools Sex Education Advisory Committee in which approval of the Wise Choices Program was authorized.”

Brooke Judd, interim assistant superintendent for Olivet Community Schools, also denied that district had any such documents.

Both Olivet and Homer school officials also reported that parents were not informed of their right to opt out of the program.

Michigan Department of Education spokesperson Jan Ellis says the department, while empowered to oversee public school compliance with Michigan education laws, does not have the ability to take action without a complaint from a parent in the district.

“Clearly it’s important that districts comply with the laws related to HIV and sex education. However, staff turnover and the complexity of the laws and requirements present real challenges at the local level,” Ellis said. “But sometimes with changes in personnel, etc. school districts ‘don’t know what they don’t know.’ For example, districts may not realize that school assemblies can fall under the sex education laws if the topic matter relates to sex education.”

Ellis said there is no mechanism in place to identify how common violations of state law related to sex education are in districts across the state. Under Michigan law, only parents of students in a district may file a complaint about the content or delivery of sex education in a given school district. If the district does not respond in a given time frame, the parent can refer the complaint to the Department of Education. If the district is found by the department to have violated one or more Michigan laws, they are subject to losing up to one percent of their total school aid fund allowance.

“Districts are generally very motivated to comply with the laws, and we have yet to see a complaint that is not addressed,” Ellis says. “There is no legal authority to monitor or routinely collect or assess this information.”

That lack of ability to monitor or take action without a parental complaint has State Sen. Rebekah Warren (D-Ann Arbor) concerned. Warren is a champion of assuring that Michigan schools provide medically accurate, scientifically accurate and age appropriate information about sex, sexually transmitted infections and reproductive health in general.

“It seems ridiculous to me that the Department of Education has no enforcement mechanism without a complaint from a parent,” said Warren. “This should be troubling to all of us.”

Speaker of the House Jase Bolger (R-Marshall), whose district includes both Marshall Public Schools and Homer Community Schools, is not quite as willing to act as Warren is.

“The Speaker will be keeping an eye on this, not only as a legislator but also as a concerned Marshall school parent. At this time, it sounds like the best recourse for this entire situation rests at the local school and school board level,” says Ari Adler, Bolger’s spokesperson. “If the review by the local officials results in a desire for changes to existing law, that’s something the House can consider. The first step, however, is usually to make sure existing laws are being followed before adding new ones.”

“Yeah because he chickened out,” Jones said of Agema. “He called and said he wanted to come and speak. We said that would be fine. That would be great. A little bit later, all of the sudden, he said he couldn’t speak.”

Jones said Agema claimed he had agreed to speak without knowing his schedule, which the pastor said he “found hard to believe.”

“I believe some type of group or interest group got to him and put pressure on him. And of course he backed down,” Jones said. “I mean our politicians are not men of courage, they’re politicians.”

“Rep. Agema did not call Mr. Jones. That is completely untrue,” said Mark Kasvin, a legislative aide to Agema.

Jones’ version of events was followed up by an email from James Terpening, a Lansing area resident who facilitated Jones’ appearances in Lansing.

“I am the rally organizer for Operation Freedom’s Tree that had Terry Jones in Lansing. Agema DID agree to speak and I was the one that spoke to him, when he canceled he called my cell phone and left a voice mail saying he had to cancel and he was sorry which I still have. He wanted to do our rally and only backed out after he had pressure placed on him.”

Michigan Messenger has requested the audio from this voicemail, but has not received it as of press time.

Kasvin said that the scheduling conflict was a meeting with a constituent in Lansing.

“I was shocked a member of the Michigan legislature would agree to speak at an event like this in the first place,” Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero said of Agema’s alleged agreement to speak at the rally. Bernero called Agema’s “foreign laws” legislation “a solution looking for a problem.”

“I just think it’s much ado about nothing,” said Bernero. “It’s a bunch of crap.”

GOP Gov. Rick Snyder’s office on Tuesday came out against the foreign laws bill.

“Regarding Rep. Agema’s bill, we have yet to see any evidence that it is needed or that foreign laws are being practiced in our state,” said Geralyn Lasher, Snyder’s communications director.

Agema has made a series of headlines this year with proposals to eliminate the Healthy Michigan Fund Initiative which would eliminate Michigan’s match for federal HIV funding dollars and instead use that money to pay for airport improvements; proposals to fine state universities for offering partner benefits to same-sex couples and legislation to develop an Arizona like immigration law in the state.

Jones spoke to the media following his rally on the steps of the state Capitol Wednesday night, which drew a half dozen supporters, 15 protesters and gaggle of press. He was also surrounded by the highest security put in place at the state Capitol in recent years. As people entered the grounds, they were subjected to having their bags searched. At least 50 officers were visible flanking either side of the Capitol steps, as well as across the street in front of Lansing City Hall and the Romney building. In the hour before Jones’ speech was scheduled, officers with bomb sniffing dogs patrolled the grounds, while facilities staff filled a series of orange plastic barricades with water.

Jones said the small turnout didn’t bother him.

“We’re not disappointed. We would like to have a lot more but we realize that these things are difficult,” Jones said of the lackluster turnout. “They’re very controversial. People are afraid of Islam. They’re afraid of the radical element, what would happen. They’re afraid maybe their neighbors will them. Of course the mayor spoke out against us. That’s a whole lot for people to over come.”

He delivered a rambling speech arguing that Islam poses a growing threat to America. The speech was peppered with claims that those of the Islamic faith have never contributed to betterment of society, that Islamic regimes such as Saudi Arabia did not participate in foreign aid as the U.S. and Europe do, and that true Islam is not what he called “the watered down version” seen in the United States. Jones’ said true Islam is represented by suicide bombers, honor killings, polygamy and more.

Early on in the evening protesters started chanting “stop hate speech.” Jones ignored the chanting, but one supporter, who would only identify himself as Eugene because he was afraid of people knowing who he was, frantically and angrily pleaded with police to stop the counter protesters. MSP officers did move in, telling protesters that they either had to stop chanting or move to the public sidewalk.

Protesters held a large banner and series of smaller signs condemning Jones’ views.

After the event, Jones also announced he will hold an event at Lansing’s Hunter Park today at 5 p.m.

“We will have to deploy more resources; spend more money to allow him to exercise his Constitutional rights,” said Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero. “We’re taking all the necessary precautions to protect the kids and the neighborhood…Our main priority is public safety.”

The Adrian Star Telegram reports that prosecutors asked the court to dismiss a charge of possession of an unregistered rifle against David Brian Stone Jr. The paper quotes the one paragraph filing as saying “the ends of justice would best be served” by the dismissal.

Stone would still face a series of other charges in an alleged plot the members of the Hutaree militia were alleged to be planning. The plot including killing a police officer, then attacking the funeral procession. The members allegedly believed this would bring on a way with the New World Order.

The FBI arrested nine members of the militia in raids in March of 2010. People were arrested in raids in Ohio, Indiana and Michigan and charged with sedition and other charges.

The trial against the other eight defendants is scheduled to begin Feb. 7 in Detroit. The other eight are leader David Stone Sr. and his wife, Tina Stone, of Clayton; Stone’s sons, Joshua Stone of Clayton and David Stone Jr. of Adrian; Joshua Clough of Blissfield; Michael Meeks of Manchester; Thomas Piatek of Whiting, Ind.; and Kristopher Sickles of Sandusky, Ohio.

Five of the members arrested remain in prison awaiting trial.

Agema was slated to discuss his bill to prohibit Michigan courts from recognizing any foreign law that conflicts with the constitution. While Agema claims the law is not targeting Shariah law, he uses Shariah as an example when he speaks of the legislation.

Agema said that he was unaware of his scheduling conflict until Tuesday afternoon while he was at a Habitat for Humanities event. Staff from his office called him when inquiries about his appearance with Jones started coming in. Agema called Terpening and left the voice mail Terpening posted on his website.

Agema said had he not had the scheduling conflict he would have appeared on the steps with the controversial pastor.

“I’d have only talked about my bill,” the Republican lawmaker said. “I would not be there to talk about his agenda.”

Terpening and Jones contended last week that Agema had called Jones’ Florida church and asked if he could speak at Jones’ rally.

Terpening arranged the rally with Jones last week as part of the launch of a new project to get voters to reject all incumbents. The 34-year-old has a checkered history, including criminal convictions dating back to 1997, the Michigan Department of Corrections Offender Database reports. Among his convictions are charges for uttering and publishing, embezzlement and fleeing a police officer.

“This is Rep. Agema calling back. Apparently I didn’t know about meetings my staff had scheduled me for and I can’t make that. And I found out because I was working for Habitat for Humanity today and then they called me and said hey did you look at your schedule. And I said well which schedule. But anyway they found because you posted it on the internet or something and I’m not going to be able to make that. Sorry about that.”

The voicemail supports both the official version of the cancelled appearance put out Tuesday by Agema’s office, as well as supports claims by Terpening and Jones that the lawmaker called them to ask to participate. Agema’s office denies that he called Jones.

Agema was scheduled to discuss his “foreign laws” legislation which would prohibit foreign laws — Agema consistently refers to Islamic Shariah law in promoting the legislation — from superseding the state and federal Constitutions.