I am a Religious Studies major at my university, and when others learn this about me, they often assume I am a hardcore Christian. I'm actually studying South Asian religions and was raised Catholic but asked to leave my church when I was eleven years old. The majority of other students in my department are not Christian either.
Why, then, is it that when someone mentions the word "religion" it is automatically assumed to imply Christianity? When I asked a friend if he would be bothered if I prayed for his mother (she's ill), he laughed at me and said, "You're not a practicing Catholic, I thought" as if Catholics have a monopoly on prayer.
Is it just because Western Culture is largely Judeo-Christian that the average person equates terms like "religion" and "prayer" with Jesus and only Jesus? When did "Are you religious?" come to mean the same thing as "Are you Christian?"
2007-03-01
15:13:28
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3 answers
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asked by
Allo
4