I work with mostly Muslim Arabs (very religious) at the airport. I am not muslim myself and while they are all very kind to me I find a bit of a cultural shock to things such as "I quit music because Islam" or "my parents won't allow me to date" when they're 20.

Having be well traveled (almost 30 countries including Turkey) I notice that many people have adopted the belief of god without religiosity. Of course, Turkey is not Saudi Arabia because Atatürk helped secularize the country - the people I work with are all Lebanese or Palestinian descent who live in America so they identify as Arab because its a cultural thing. One of them even told me that the muslims who live in America are more conservative than Lebanon or even Jordan.

What do you have to say to the girl who told me this? She is nice but a bit annoying. I personally found Turkish more liberal but I only visited Istanbul. I am sure places in the east are far different.