A humble church in South Seattle...
A humble church in South Seattle... Charles Mudede

In the second of Muhammad Ali's four appearances on Michael Parkinson's BBC chatshow (1971, 1974, 1975, 1981), something really strange happens. This strange thing is found in one of Ali's many statements about his religion and his God. This particular statement is striking because of the way it shows the other Ali, the Ali behind the Ali, the thinker outside of and looking into the believer, the objective mind dislocated from the immediacy of religious feelings. For Ali, belief in God is not natural but cultural.

This is how it happens. Parkinson asks Ali: If he had studied at school and become educated, where would he be now? And Ali makes this answer:

[I would not be a rebel if I was educated, also...] they do not believe in God, real educated people. Once they get real educated, they don't believe in a God. Poor people who believe in God, go to church and believe. [But soon as he got] a book and education and knowledge and knows why things happen, he don't believe no more in the supernatural, believe no more in spiritual God....
If you are educated, you know how the world works, and therefore, you have no need for God. But if you are not educated, the world still has mystery. This is not ignorance as bliss, but ignorance as magical. What gets me is: Ali knows atheism is rational, and religion is not. This is the Ali (mind) behind the Ali (believer). GOAT was a very weird believer.

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