[pokey00]

Also from Buffalo, same experience- someone bringing up religion in conversation would be odd. Would be really weird if they start talking about their relationship with God, praying, etc. Not that there's any problem with this stuff, but for me (and how I was raised), it's a private matter.

I've been away from Buffalo for maybe 15 years now and everywhere I've been outside of the north east, people will somehow work church and God into conversations. And for them, there's nothing odd about it... they just kind of assume I'm on board and it's not weird at all. I'm used to it at this point, but it used to be uncomfortable.

My anecdotal conclusion is that the "religion is a private matter" mentality might just be local to the northeast US.