I'm Muslim, I know where OP is coming from, but...the HN thread where people vigorously debated whether the idea of interacting with people they might eventually have romantic interest in is "American" is a top 10 HN moment for me, and I've been here 14 years.
Dating is a ritual interaction, it's not just term for any interaction. A tell that it is new is that the name is meaningless; it's just a term for an appointment that got wrapped up in a bunch of connotations that became denotations. Also see "go out" or "go with."
