It's not my problem what other people associate it with. I could care less. It's as stupid as associating cash with "a way to buy drugs"

That's just the common understanding of DNMs. I'm not the one who made it that way. Even if we take up your broader definition of DNMs, which I'm not necessarily opposed to because it makes sense, lightning STILL remains largely unused there. Again, don't see how it helps your case but go for it.

The reason why "criminals" using it is important is if it protects those users, the ones working under extremely adversarial markets, then it shows it will protect any average user in practice. Not just in theory, which is all lightning has been so far. It hasn't been stress-tested in those conditions yet. Those markets have completely rejected it. You can speculate why that is, but that is just a fact. Maybe it will change with BOLT12 we'll see.

Yea, BBC and ProPublica have sites on the darknet. How does that make them a DNM? Your point?

"So I recommend not spreading the "crime only" definition. It is harmful to privacy because it scares away legitimate users. There's nothing wrong with DNMs" And theres nothing wrong with making voluntary transactions either. You can use Monero for whatever you want just like cash. Drugs or boring groceries. That's what makes it digital cash.