No, that wasn't what I was saying. There is a difference between having strong opinions and considering something part of your identity. You can discard an opinion if you get sufficient evidence to the contrary. It's harder to discard your identity.
Moreover, identifying as something doesn't necessarily take the form of having any specific opinions. E.g. identifying as southern (in the US) may cause you to have certain opinions, but it doesn't consist of having them. Someone who wasn't southern but happened to have the same opinions wouldn't thereby identify as southern.
I believe that if you hold certain opinions, strongly enough, they change who you are. If you truly believe in the value of altruism (for example) you can't help but become more altruistic. If you don't let your opinions change who you are, it's a fair question to ask, whether you even hold those opinions.
Granted, I understand that you are more concerned with making sure people keep a certain emotional distance from their opinions, so that they can maintain a level of objectivity, but I'm not sure that that is always feasible, without adopting a certain kind of passivity or relativism.
Moreover, identifying as something doesn't necessarily take the form of having any specific opinions. E.g. identifying as southern (in the US) may cause you to have certain opinions, but it doesn't consist of having them. Someone who wasn't southern but happened to have the same opinions wouldn't thereby identify as southern.