landlover, no, I have not lived in a place like that...the nearest to it I have come is Qatar. As many people from the places you mentioned are here.
and yes, maybe I do not understand for this reason...But, what i can say is this, where I come from people are not particularly spiritual and most are not religious...still, people do not pay that much heed to what others say...in fact, they see the humour in it or simply shake their heads and forget about it..it certainly does not affect them particularly.