identify with someone as someone else?

I'm trying here another exercise of paraphrasing a given sentence. Actually I tried this in December last year, but I find me reviewing it again. Working with foreign languages requires me to do it, redo it, and redo it again, be it referring to dictionaries or practicing some exercies like this.

1. Given sentence:

As with deeply held values in any culture, it seemed self-evident that people will identify with other craftsmen as fellow citizens.

2. Reduction of the sentence to a more simple form by setting aside 'it seemed self-evident that':

As with deeply held values in any culture, people identify with other craftsmen as fellow citizens.

3. Initial exercise

When I encounted this given sentence, the first question for me was related to the proposition "as." Using "as" like one in this sentence supposes that a term is put to the same status(or same semantic status) as another term: like 'I love her as my wife,' 'I like this country as a teacher.' In the first case of the two, 'her' and 'my wife' have the same status. In the second, 'I' and 'a teacher' have the same status.

In the given sentence, it may be understood that the term 'other craftsmen' has the same status as 'fellow citizens', and it may be also understood that the term 'people' has the same status as 'fellow citizens.' It appears at least to me. I try some exercises with the second meaning in mind:

Exercise 1: 

People identify with deeply held values in any culture.
They equally identify with other craftsmen (as fellow citizens).

Exercise 2: 

People identify with other craftsmen (as fellow citizens) as with deeply held values in any culture.

4. Trying to paraphrase the given sentence:

(1) As is self-evident that people identify with deeply held values in any culture, it seemed self-evident that people, as fellow citizens, will identify with other craftsmen.

(2) It is self-evident that people will identify with other craftsmen as fellow citizens as when they identify with deeply held values in any culture.

Not so lovely paraphrases. Given the limit of my English language, I feel unable to fully unfold various possible examples other than above, that could reveal more clearly the relationship between the terms. 

.... Albert

cf: identify with someone, identify someone with someone else

※ The date adjusted to today April 28, 2009 to put 

this exercise into my recent memory.