From Dearborn to Germany: Religious Tensions and a Mother's Desperate Fight

Religious tensions and medical miracles take center stage in today's exploration of how faith intersects with public life in America and abroad.

The borders of religious tolerance are being tested in Dearborn, Michigan, where a shocking confrontation unfolded at a city council meeting. When Christian resident Ted Barham raised concerns about street signs honoring a publisher with alleged ties to terrorist organizations, Mayor Abdullah Hamad didn't just disagree—he declared Barham "not welcome" in the city, suggesting he would "celebrate" if the resident moved away. This troubling exchange raises profound questions about religious freedom and civic participation in increasingly diverse American communities.

Across the Atlantic, a similar dynamic emerges in professional sports, where a German soccer player faces scrutiny from his team simply for expressing sympathy after Charlie Kirk's assassination. The young athlete, a devout Christian, found himself defending the basic human act of offering condolences to a grieving family. His thoughtful response—"Having different political views is absolutely okay... but expressing sympathy is human and should not be condemned"—stands as a powerful reminder of how compassion transcends political divisions.

Amid these concerning developments, there's an extraordinary tale of hope and persistence. When six-year-old Witten suddenly lost his ability to walk, talk, and breathe, doctors offered little hope. His mother, refusing to accept this prognosis, turned to Google in desperation and discovered a specialist who could help. Against overwhelming odds, she secured her son's transfer to another facility where surgeons successfully treated his rare brain condition. Within hours of surgery, Witten was breathing and speaking again—a testament to a mother's determination and the power of seeking second opinions when lives hang in the balance. What's your favorite Robert Redford film? Share your thoughts as we remember this iconic actor's legacy.

Buzzsprout - Let's get your podcast launched!
Start for FREE

Thanks for listening! 

Liberty Line each week on Sunday, look for topics on my X file @americanistblog and submit your 1-3 audio opinions to anamericanistblog@gmail.com and you'll be featured on the podcast. 

Buzzsprout - Let's get your podcast launched!
Start for FREE

Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome and Introduction
• 0:45 Dearborn Mayor Rejects Christian Resident
• 5:14 German Soccer Player Faces Backlash
• 9:00 Mother's Google Search Saves Son
• 13:45 Robert Redford Tribute Question

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:14

Hello, good morning, welcome to Wednesday. All right, I have three stories for you from the New York Post. Well, one of them is actually from LifeSite News, which is quite interesting. The other ones are from the New York Post. Let's hope I can open them up without all these pop-up ads.

Speaker 1: 0:31

Dearborn's Muslim mayor tells Christian he's not welcome in debate on honoring pro-terror Arab leader. Man, we have lost Michigan. Dearborn's Muslim mayor tells Christian he's not welcome in debate on honoring pro-terror Arab leader. Okay, here's how it went down.

Speaker 1: 0:52

At a Dearborn city council meeting last week, mayor Abdullah H Hamald Hamad whatever, told local residents Edward Ted Barham, a Christian, that he was not welcome in the city after Barham raised concerns about new street signs honoring the Arab American news publisher Osama Seblani Blani. So apparently they renamed some streets there after this dude, this Muslim, and come to find out he's a promoter of Hezbollah and Hamas. So this is what Barham he introduced himself as Ted Barham, dearborn resident, and objected to two intersections being renamed after Sablani. He said he's a promoter of Hezbollah and Hamas, before quoting past remarks from Sablani, including he talks about how the blood of the martyrs irrigates the land of Palestine, where we are in Michigan and whether we are in Yemen. Believe me, everyone should fight within his means. They will fight with stones. Believe me, everyone should fight within his means. They will fight with stones. Others will fight with guns. Others fight with planes, drones and rockets. So here this is, this Christian man living in America, in Michigan, and he's concerned about these streets being renamed after this particular Hamas supporter Muslim. I agree, I think we were founded on a Judeo-Christian right. Is that correct? Okay so, but not anymore. Not in Dearborn. I just can't believe this crap.

Speaker 1: 2:33

Barham compared the signs to naming a road Hezbollah Street or Hamas Street, calling them provocative and stressing that, as a Christian, he wanted to encourage peace. He closed by quoting Jesus blessed are the peacemakers. Council members interjected, warning Barham against personal attacks and reminding him that the city had no control over the county's decision. One clarified the sign that was placed on the Warren Avenue, which is a county road, and that was done by the Wayne County Executive, but Barham maintained that the issue mattered to Dearborn residents because the signs stood in their city. Mayor Hamad responded with remarks that shocked many in attendance. The best suggestion I have for you is to not drive on Warren Avenue or to close your eyes while you're doing it. His name is up there and I spoke at a ceremony celebrating it because he's done a lot for this community, hamad said. He went further, accusing Barham of being a bigot and you are a racist and you're an Islamophobe.

Speaker 1: 3:48

Before declaring although you live here, I want you to know as mayor, you are not welcome here, and the day you move out of this city will be the day I launch a parade celebrating the fact that you moved out of this city. What the fuck? I'm sorry Forgive me, lord, for my language. I mean, what in the hell is going on? People, people, people. I don't understand what you're doing there in Michigan. I don't. I don't. Somebody tell me what I mean. There's nothing I could do. I live in Huntsville, alabama, but what in the world is going on with you? I wish, oh my God, this is not going well, and I hope more people like Mr Barham and Christian stand up up there and take that city back. Come on, all right. The next step here's another one. Here's another thing. You're ready for this one? This is from LifeSite News You're going to. This is incredible, although this is not in America. This is not an America story, so this is good.

Speaker 1: 5:00

So German soccer team starts internal process against player for posting supporting Charlie Kirk. Y'all this is amazing. This is crazy. The German soccer team I can't pronounce it Borussia Dortmund, bvb has started an internal process to look into a player after he expressed support for Charlie Kirk on social media. This is insane and crazy. Wait until you listen to this. According to German news outlets, bvb wants to internally review a social media post by its player, felix, and seek a conversation with the professional. And seek a conversation with the professional. However, the club will not make any further public statements and a penalty for the professional is reportedly not under consideration. Well, let's hope not.

Speaker 1: 5:57

Felix faced backlash online from leftist BVB fans after he expressed his sympathy for Charlie Kirk and his family after the brutal assassination. So you know, we have these crazies out there celebrating his death. But here's the opposite. Now we have somebody out here posting things that in support of Charlie Kirk and his family and expressing his sympathy, and now people are coming for him. This is insane. The professional athlete had expressed his shock at the murder of Kirk via an Instagram story. Rest in peace with God. Such a sad day, the 24-year-old midfielder wrote. The post was later edited to now state. May the Lord be with the Kirk family during this time with special grace. Jesus is the true path to peace and love. Yes, preach it.

Speaker 1: 6:47

In another post, which was since been deleted, felix wrote that Kirk had peacefully stood up for his convictions and values. There's nothing false about any of this. This is all truth and it is peaceful and it is calm and it is truth-telling. Okay, nothing is wrong with this whatsoever. Celebrating an attack on a father and husband is truly evil, he wrote.

Speaker 1: 7:13

The soccer professional is known as a devout christian who has faced criticism for liking christian and conservative content on social media. He has been accused of sharing homophobic and anti-LGBT posts. People, we've got to stop this. We have got to stop criticizing people. Now I'm going to criticize what happened in Michigan, because that's wrong. See, here's the thing. I think somebody's already said that the right points out the wrongness and the left we point out the evilness, and it's just crazy.

Speaker 1: 7:47

After the backlash, felix followed up with another post explaining his motives. My idea was to offer my condolences to the grieving family and send the message that hatred and violence are never the answer. Having different political views and opinions, it's absolutely okay, he said. I also disagree with many things, charlie Cook's, charlie Kirk for. But let's remember that a man was murdered in front of his wife and two young children. I believe that expressing sympathy is human and should not be condemned, he wrote.

Speaker 1: 8:21

According to the German newspaper, felix's contract contains a clause stipulating a penalty if he posts anything online that contradicts the club's values. So let me get this straight then the club's values are anti-Christian. I guess that's what that means, and it's Germany, so of course that's what that means. All right, this next story is freaking amazing to me. Here you go with some hope and inspiration.

Speaker 1: 8:49

I am just in awe of this mother. I don't, I'm going to tell you right now, I don't think I would have had the gumption or forethought or whatever wisdom to do this and the strength that this mother had my god, because I'm gonna. It skims over a lot, but all right. My six-year-old lost his ability to walk, talk and breathe, but docs couldn't help. My Google search saved his life and it makes it sound like all she did was do a Google search, found somebody and then transported his her boy over there. Well, let me tell you, if you're going to do something like, do you know how much red tape and paperwork and bureaucracy crap you probably have to go through. I'm surprised the hospital released him. I really am. I'm surprised the hospital let her take her son to a different facility and I'm sure she had to stand up and fight. But the article doesn't mention that. But you know it. You know she had to stand up and fight, but the article doesn't mention that. But you know it. You know she had to have what started as a simple illness spiraled into a nightmare for a Texas family when their six-year-old son was left paralyzed just hours after being misdiagnosed with the flu. Desperate and out of options, his terrified mother turned to Google in the dead of night, and what she found ended up saving his life. I thought I was going to lose him that day, casey Daniels said of her son, witten Daniel, in an interview.

Speaker 1: 10:11

The terrifying ordeal unfolded in April when Witten, who was six years old, was admitted to the hospital with dizziness and a headache. Doctors initially blamed the flu, but less than 24 hours after arriving, the young boy couldn't walk, talk or even breathe on his own. Then he lost consciousness. My God, the terror, the terror this family and this mother must have gone through. Six years old, this little baby. Oh my God, I could. I can't imagine I would have been a puddle of something on the floor. There are no words to describe how horrifying it is to see your child in that kind of condition. No kidding, doctors rushed to intubate Witten to keep him breathing, as they scrambled to run tests, desperate to uncover the cause of the baffling symptoms. It wasn't the flu. Instead, they found a rare and potentially deadly cluster of blood vessels leaking inside his brain stem. Good heavens, my God. His condition quickly worsened. Seizures and strokes ravaged his small body as he lay in the hospital bed. Oh my God. Doctors warned that if he survived he'd likely never walk again and would need a ventilator and feeding tube for life.

Speaker 1: 11:28

Casey was stunned. Just two weeks earlier, witten had been named MVP of his Little League team. Now it was her turn to step up to the plate and she hit a home run. Turning to Google, casey scoured the web until she found an article by Dr Jock Mark Morkos Now I mean, a neurosurgeon in UT Health, houston, and who specialized in her son's condition. Can you imagine? Can you imagine? I mean, this is insane, because Google is large, right, and to find somebody like this is amazing.

Speaker 1: 12:04

And she sent him a desperate email begging for help. She sent him an email and he answered it Soon after. He replied, insisting Whitten be rushed to his facility where doctors confirmed he had a life threatening cavernous malformation. So again, to get the transfer of her child to another facility is amazing. She sent him a desperate email. I already read that Roughly 1 in 500 people are believed to have at least one of these dangerous clusters lurking in their brain or spine. According to the Alliance to Cure Cavernous Malformation, one in 500 people. When symptoms do appear, usually between the ages of 20 and 40, seizures are the most common sign.

Speaker 1: 12:53

So anyway, soon after arriving at the new hospital, witten was rushed into emergency surgery for four tense hours. Morcos and pediatric neurosurgeon Manish Shah performed the risky procedure. Luckily it was a success. Within hours Witten was awake, breathing on his own and talking again Within hours, I mean hello. And then, six weeks later, he was back home in Lubbock for his seventh birthday and had more to celebrate than just another year.

Speaker 1: 13:25

Oh my gosh, that is freaking amazing and I hope that that brightened up your day. My goodness, the tenacity and persistence of that mother, thank God. I mean please, please, let that be a symbol for everybody else to never give up and to go seek answers. All right, question of the day. Okay, question of the day. You know you've heard Robert Redford passed away. I want to know what's your favorite Robert Redford movie? My husband's favorite movie is the Sting. I had never watched it until I married him and so he made me watch it and it's a really good movie. I love it, but I'm gonna have to re-watch the Way we Were with Barbra Streisand. I know, I know, but I'm gonna have to re-watch that, probably this weekend. All right, gotta go. Thanks for listening. Love y'all, bye.