Religious vs. Civil on the Marriage Certificate

I’ve had a number of calls lately from couples about this. After purchasing certified copies of their marriage certificate, they notice that “religious” is checked off, even though they had a non-religious ceremony. This refers to the person performing the ceremony, not the type of ceremony performed. The only people allowed to check “civil” are a judge, justice of the peace or similar government official. Everyone else, from the Pope to little old me, must check religious.