c. 1997 Religion News Service

ATLANTA _ At 55, Muhammad Ali is still called The Champ. He may have been slowed by Parkinson’s disease, but he still has a powerful punch with the media and now he’s taken on a new opponent _ fighting religious bigotry and intolerance.

On the media side,”When We Were Kings,”the award-winning documentary about his 1974 fight with George Foreman in Zaire, opened to critical acclaim in February. Now, Ali and co-author Thomas Hauser are touring the country promoting their book,”Healing: A Journal of Tolerance and Understanding (CollinsPublishers).

On the bigotry side, Ali finds himself sparring with a handful of Christian fundamentalists who have criticized the new book for its view that people of all religions will go to heaven.”My mother was a Baptist,”he writes in one passage.”She believed Jesus was the son of God, and I don’t believe that. But even though my mother had a religion different from me, I believe that on Judgment Day my mother will be in heaven. There are Jewish people who lead good lives; and when they die, I believe they’re going to heaven. If you’re a good Muslim, if you’re a good Christian, if you’re a good Jew; it doesn’t matter what religion you are, if you’re a good person you’ll receive God’s blessing.” Some of the critics have taken their disagreement to Ali’s appearances.

In Pensacola, Fla., a fundamentalist group protested his appearance at a student program saying they feared Ali would preach a Muslim message and similar accommodation would not be given to a Christian speaker.”They don’t understand what our message is about,”said Ali’s wife, Lonnie.

Those eager to welcome Ali quickly drowned out the dissenters’ voices. The controversy turned out to be a positive experience for Pensacola, contends Hauser, Ali’s co-author.”The great majority of people in the community … have started to look at some of the intolerant people in their midst and they’re saying, `What are you talking about? What kind of Christian are you?'”Hauser said.

Ali has sparred with Christian fundamentalists in the past. He enjoys pointing out verses in the Bible that appear to be contradictory.

Hauser, however, says,”Muhammad is not attacking other people’s religion. What he is saying is, `There are people out there who are proselytizing very hard, saying that the only way you can be saved is to embrace Jesus Christ as your savior and you are interpreting the word of God for me.'”What Ali is saying is, `I question your validity to do that and this is why.'” Ali and Hauser come from very different backgrounds _ and that’s part of the point.

Ali is an African-American Muslim, Hauser a white Jew who calls himself more spiritual than religious.

They say they wrote the book in response to the bigotry and prejudice they both have experienced and Hauser holds up a quote by the early 18th-century writer Jonathan Swift:”We have just enough religion to make us hate, but not enough to make us love one another.” As they travel the country, the focus of their message changes while the core _ tolerance _ remains the same.”In New York … the issue on everybody’s mind was black and white. In Los Angeles, the major tension was between the English-speaking students and the (Spanish-speaking) students. In Pensacola, there is a religious division.” In Atlanta, Ali showed that controversy hasn’t lessened his appeal. He still draws throngs of fans and media, and works a crowd like a politician, singling out individuals for a wave, posing so each photographer can capture his best side, shadow-boxing with the men and hugging the women and children.

Parkinson’s disease has slowed his gait, motor skills and once-distinctive voice, but not his mind. Through a few carefully chosen words and pantomime, he’s able to get his message across. Lonnie, his wife of 10 years, fills in the missing pieces.

Ali takes the time to slowly, yet legibly, sign his name to every photo, book and scrap of paper thrust at him.

At each stop on the tour, Ali and his entourage take their message of tolerance to local schools. Lonnie takes the podium and delivers Ali’s message, while he sits and watches. Students who weren’t even born when Ali was boxing, pepper him with questions. He mumbles the answers and Lonnie translates.

Ali can still connect.”Why did you become a boxer?”one student asked.”The money,”Ali replied, to laughter and applause.”What is the most important thing in your life?”asked another student.”Allah,”he said softly to the hushed crowd.”What was your toughest fight?”Without missing a beat, he replied,”The one with my first wife!” Ali, an amateur magician, also delights in performing simple tricks. However, some magicians are not happy he breaks the magician’s code by showing how they are done. His purpose, he says, is to show that only Allah can really do the miraculous.

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Lonnie, 40, has known Ali since she was 6 and he was 20. She grew up across the street from his family. He loves children (he has nine of his own) and she would see him when he came to visit his parents. She says that she has loved him since she was 17 and knew one day they would be together.

While Lonnie was studying for her MBA at UCLA, Ali would visit her. When he divorced his third wife, they began seeing more of each other. He introduced her to Islam and she later converted.”Our courtship wasn’t traditional,”Lonnie said. They had known each other for so long that the lines between friendship and relationship blurred.

Though Ali spends about 275 days a year on the road, he’d rather be at home. He lives in a rural farmhouse in Berrien Springs, Mich., that once belonged to mobster Al Capone although he said they plan to sell the house and move back to Louisville, Ky., where they will build the Muhammad Ali Center, a museum dedicated to promoting tolerance.

MJP END PATTERSON