I like the discussion and thanks for the thoughts.  For myself, this isn't a BCH versus BTC.  I am not against the goals of Lightning network.

Long term, just thinking what the knock-off effects of adoption on the lightning network versus actual BTC takes place.  Some monte carlo simulations could be built to better assess what the outcomes could be.

My thought this morning was that if there was a way to incorporate sidechain mining into the lightning network model.  This may have provide the ability to decentralize the channels themselves and allow miners to continue to collect the fees.

Of course this would require some work, but if the payment channel issue already solved then the addition of minable side-chains may be plausible.