Interesting idea.

Don't worry Fala, I'll be gentle.

Yes, my eyes are black...but I'm not that pale.

Oh, I think that the psychological mechanisms behind that sort of thing are common enough, insofar that we will all have to live through that fragile age of illusions where we believe that taking on an identity will also bestow upon us the power of that image, sort of like a civilised-cultural version of paleolithic hunter magic. However, sooner or later we all have to realise that the only thing that really counts is what we actually DO, whereas "who we think we are" really is of little relevance except for perhaps to a handful of people who are playing the same game as us.

I think there's also the whole fear of labels in general. The mentality is that taking up a label means conforming to ideas that aren't one's own. I've never been comfortable with the "I'm my own religion" stance. In reality I think those types are just too afraid to commit to a principle for fear of making mistakes, and too uncreative, unorganized, or just plain unimaginative to adopt a system that works for themselves. Personally I like having some kind of framework that I can productively work with.

To me, the "I'm my own religion" stance, or again, "I am a Buddhist, but I don't believe in this, this, or this" Are for people who either have not found the PROPER label for themselves, or in general, do not have their beliefs and philosophies in line. I can't hold any scorn for the ladder, as not everyone finds out who they really are, right away, or at all. Without going into the fact that this could be because of personal weakness (Which is likely the case) the bottom line is that these people are not ready to adopt anything as a label. They then succumb to the former stance, which is a group of people I cannot personally respect.

If you don't have a title, there is no use in following one that you do not believe in fully. Whether it be Satanist, Buddhist, Christian, Athiest, etc, etc.