Individuals expressing personal preferences via their own mempool policies is not censorship, it's autonomy. I acknowledge that some spam might slip by filtering, just as I acknowledge that a burgler can bypass my locked door by breaking a window. This obviously doesn't mean I should be forced to remove all locks entirely.

You have an absurd notion of what censorship is. It's not individuals making personal choices. Actual censorship is coercion imposed on individuals by a central authority or power, the exact opposite of what's happening with knots. It is much more accurate to say Core is censoring my ability to configure my node, a direct violation of my private property.