"There are IMCR pilots (like myself) who fly IFR anytime, in IMC if necessary, and don't bat an eyelid."
But IMC itself is a total non-event and the VMC/IMC transition might be done 10x in one short flight.
This is exactly the point I have been trying to make and why I was very careful to say with a CURRENT IR or IMCR.
I think it is wrong and misleading to suggest with a CURRENT IR trasitioning from VMC to IMC is SO dangerous even when the transition is unexpected. I bet nearly everyone who has just passed their IMC could do so safely. Whether they keep up to speed is a different matter - I think we all agree on that point.
The transition whether planned or unplanned is not in itself illegal.