'Peasant' and 'pagan' are etymological cousins — both defined by their connection to the countryside.
A poor farmer of low social status who owns or rents a small piece of land for cultivation; historically, a member of the lowest social class in feudal society.
From Anglo-French 'paisant,' from Old French 'paisent' (one from the countryside), from 'pais' (country, region), from Late Latin 'pāgēnsis' (inhabitant of a district), from Latin 'pāgus' (district, province, village). The Latin 'pāgus' originally denoted a rural district or canton, and may derive from PIE *peh₂ǵ- (to fasten, to fix), referring to a fixed or staked-out area of land. The same Latin root produced 'pāgānus' (villager, civilian, and later 'pagan' — one who clung to old rural religions
'Peasant' and 'pagan' are etymological cousins — both derive from Latin 'pāgus' (rural district). A 'pāgānus' was a villager, and when Christianity spread through Roman cities first, the rural folk who clung to old religions were called 'pāgānī' — pagans. The countryside defined both your class and your faith