Why is "Religion" synonymous with "Christianity" to most people?

Question

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?"

Answer 1

People will judge you based on their expectations. It has nothing at all to do with you. I'm a student of religion myself (here in The Netherlands), also focusing on Asia (India, to be exact). People here usually say 'how nice', when they here what I do, because religion's all the rage these days. But when I was younger religion was taboo here. It's just how these things go.

Answer 2

Probably because in any given area there are a majority of people in the same religion. For example, drop off in the middle east and they'd think religion=muslim. There are dozens of other examples. You were obviously pre-determined as a former catholic, so that's how you were treated..

Answer 3

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