Very interesting debate, as a contrast I am doing the IMCR at the moment and I fly a very well equipped RV6 but even when I have the IMCR I will not be able to go into cloud even with mode S VOR GPS etc.
One thought if I did need to decend through cloud I could turn the engine off and then I would be gliding, All OK :-)
Not having a go at the glider pilots, we all have to operate by the rules but does seem a little unfair.
Steve