Apatheists, Spirituality, and Health

Although we’ve known each other for over 30 years, I can count on half-a-hand the number of times my best friend and I have discussed religion.  Ask me to describe his interest in spiritual matters on a scale of 1 to 10 and I’d have to say, I don’t really know.

Maybe the best word to describe him is “apatheist,” a term coined by blogger Hemant Mehta, better known as “The Friendly Atheist.”

Apatheists or “So Whats,” to borrow a phrase from USA Today religion writer, Cathy Lynn Grossman, aren’t necessarily people who don’t believe in God.  They’re just not particularly interested in exploring the subject further. 

Many reasons are given as to why, but the bottom line is that a lot folks are simply giving up on the search for ultimate meaning.  Forty-four percent of those who participated in a recent Baylor University Religion Survey said they spend no time seeking “eternal wisdom.”  Nineteen percent said, “It’s useless to search for meaning.”

That's too bad, especially since there’s so much evidence to the contrary from people who have found that meaning and purpose and spiritual inspiration actually animates and empowers their life.  But acknowledging this spiritual dimension does even more.  It has a positive effect on health.

Just ask medical researcher, Gail Ironson.

Dr. Ironson conducted a study to determine the relationship between spiritual consciousness and the progression of AIDS.  She looked at two key factors: viral load, which lets you know how much of the virus is in your body, and immune cells, which work to fend off the AIDS virus.  Over a four-year period she noticed that those who were actively cultivating a spiritual outlook had a much lower viral load and maintained immune cells at a noticeably higher rate than those who consciously disavowed such activity.

As promising as this sounds, it may not be enough to get the spiritually apathetic to change course.  For some, perhaps even most, it’s going to take a fundamentally different perspective on the underlying concepts of God and religion – a sort of cost-benefit analysis, if you will.

What might inspire such a shift in perspective depends, of course, on the individual involved.  Regardless, it’s likely that more could be done on the part of those already engaged in spiritual pursuits in terms of sharing with others the benefits of their quest.

Not the least of which is better health.

This article originally appeared on “On Being”

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