From: jodar@girtab.usc.edu (Nicholas Jodar)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.arabic
Subject: Re: Arabization survey
Date: 10 Apr 1992 19:07:31 -0700
Organization: University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA
NNTP-Posting-Host: girtab.usc.edu
Summary: Sounds Funny....
Keywords: Being Muslim

In article <5265@pdxgate.UUCP> chedley@eecs.cs.pdx.edu (Chedley A. Aouriri) writes:

>Cross posted to: soc.culture.arabic,soc.religion.islam,soc.culture.lebanon,
>soc.culture.turkish,talk.politics.mideast

[In other words, posted to what can be assumed to be the
Arabic-speaking audience....]

>--------------------------------------------------------------------------
>I am posting this for a friend who is conducting a research on
>Arabization. Please direct your replies, answers or enquiries to  
>   MOMO@MILTON.U.WASHINGTON.EDU
>   momo@milton.u.washington.edu

I believe I understand what information the survey is trying to
gather, but some of the questions still sound strange to me.
These are the same questions which sound strange to me when I see
them on various bureaucratic forms.  

My answers to the common questions listed below are often not
acceptable on standardized forms.  When I'm feelings especially
stubborn, however, I change to forms to fit my answers.... :-)

Name		Nicholas Jodar/Abdul-Kadir
Sex		Male
Hair		Brown
Eyes		Blue
Race		Human
Ethnicity	Muslim
Nationality	Muslim
Political Bent	Muslim
Social Class	Muslim
Ideology	Islam
Religion	Islam
Occupation	Muslim

.   .   .   .   .

Well, I'm sure you get the point....

There were a few examples from the survey posted here in SRI
which were kind of interesting for the same reasons....

>____________________________________________________________
>____________________________________________________________
>
>
>                         S U R V E Y
>
>P A R T   O N E:  (Background)
>------------------------------

4.  Nationality: @ Muslim
6.  [When] married, nationality of spouse: @ Muslima (Inshallah...)

>63. From the following list of words:
>    Berber    Kabyle    Chleuh     Touareg    Shaoui   Mzabi
>    Arab      Muslim    Algerian   Tunisian   Moroccan
>    Mauritanian    Lybian     Maghrebian      African
>    Mediterranean    European       Other (specify)
>    Please choose  UP TO  five words, in decreasing order of
>    preference, that would IDENTIFY you best.

*OTHER*

1. @ Muslim
2. @ Male
3. @ Human
4. @ Sentinent
5. @ Alive

>64. From the following list of words:
>    Arab nationalist (Qawmi)    Marxist    Liberal
>    Socialist    Berberist    Democrat    Social Democrat
>    Communist    Reformist    Anarchist    Royalist
>    Libertarian    Local Nationalist (Watani)    Islamist
>    Secular   Baathist    Other (specify)
>    Please choose  UP TO  five words, in decreasing order of
>    preference, that define your political inclination best.

*OTHER*

1. @ Muslim (Alhamdulillah)
2. @ Pious (Inshallah)
3. @ Humble (Inshallah)
4. @ Rational (Inshallah)
5. @ Compassionate (Inshallah)


While this posting is mostly for entertainment value, (I find the 
whole idea of seperating people into arbitrary 'groups' absurd),
there is a point, I feel.

You know the old saying, 'United we stand, divided we fall..'?
Well, who, besides Shaitan, has anything to gain from the
division of the peoples of the earth?  The way I see it, there's
muslim, and non-muslim.  And that's it.

-Nick

'Alhamdu'lillahi, Rabi'llalimeen, Arrahmani, Arraheem, Maliki Yau'mideen...'

Xref: sparky soc.culture.arabic:1958 soc.culture.jewish:8075