In a way you are comparing apples to oranges.
Yeah but apples taste better then oranges.
Argument can be made either way....
Kinda the point. People make a big deal out of the hassle and mess of a coal grill... but I think they make up their own problems as its not so much worse then using a gas grill, particularly if you actually cleaning and maintaining it. As you point out arguments can be made for both sides, and gas grills can be just as bad.
Meanwhile almost all of the people I am talking about say they like charcoal better... but it just takes so much more work and is so much messier. But if the arguments go either way, they kind of cancel each other out, and your left with the fact that they like charcoal better so they should use it.