“I’m very religious about exercising,” or, “I’m religious about writing every day,” or even, “I’m religious about ironing.”
Said in this manner, “religious” has come to more or less mean regular, structured, and committed. Of course, religious has taken on this meaning because of religious traditions with strict regimens of prayer. Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, and Buddhism are definite promulgators.
But the root word of religion is the same as the root of relationship. Religio- (or something like that–sorry, didn’t do enough Googling) means “to bind together.” Religion is about binding yourself with the divine, while relationships is about binding yourself to others.
Words matter. If we started treating religions like relationships with God instead of strict infrastructures of oppression, maybe our our relationship with these institutions would shift. If religions remembered this, too, that would be a big help.