right of association?

so I was thinking about it today (when I saw the empire state building blue & white for the israeli day parade) and I realized that one question that people ask me (or us jews, as a general populace) is -- are you an american jew, or a jewish american? now I'm not going on focus on this question because I think it's a silly one but rather the idea that people associate themselves with specific groups of people.

it's easy, sometimes, to lock ourselves into a certain group of people just because it gives us (or maybe just me?) a comfort zone, a group of people that we know we'll have something in common with regardless of our backgrounds. some people associate with the whole "vegan/vegetarian" movement (something I could really NEVER do. I love meat.) some people are really into religion so that's their thing, some people are into theater, some sports (watching/playing), some video games, etc., etc.. granted I'm totally into the feminist movement so maybe that's my jam, but I guess something I have a bigger problem with is the idea that we associate ourselves specifically with one or two groups pretty much because it locks us into a group and a specific ideology.

I don't mean to say that being connected with other people on an interest-based-level is a bad thing because, phrased like that, I sound like an asshole. what I mean to say is that while we all have interests, being locked into one or two groups gives us a pretty stilted, almost jaded mindset if we don't stay careful and open minded. granted, it's nice to know that within bigger groups there are smaller factions and each person comes to the table with a different perspective (I guess that right there would be the beauty of grouping together, in general) but that doesn't mean you have to affiliate yourself solely with that group. groups may be an indication of our passions and interests, but we're not one dimensional people; we don't just have one or two things we love to do. we are complex persons with many many interests and should not have to refer to ourselves as a "dancer" or an "atheist" or a "blogger" even, because it's simply one facet of our personalities, our personas, and shouldn't be the main focus of who we are.

just some silliness that sounds really good, check out the national, a brooklyn-based indie band that got together in ohio way back when. check 'em out.