In these conversations with patients who are wary of religion, Callahan slips in another detail: He’s an atheist himself. Callahan is one of a growing number of openly atheist chaplains working in institutions around the country. Though the term “atheist chaplain” might sound like an oxymoron, he doesn’t see a contradiction between his beliefs and the work of tending to the human spirit. Other atheist chaplains don’t shy away from religion at all, instead helping people explore faith and spirituality in nontraditional ways. There may be few atheist and nonreligious chaplains right now, but as Callahan sees it, their numbers only stand to grow.

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