For the vast majority of websites, this is true and I agree. However, there are now websites that are more akin to applications than to the traditional website

For the vast majority of websites, this is true and I agree. However, there are now websites that are more akin to applications than to the traditional website of yore and that are meaningless without Javascript. This is not a bad thing; it is just the opening up of the web platform to new opportunities. Some of these emerging applications may want some of their content to be searchable and so I argue that the posted solution is solving a real problem and is of value to users.