Phil
I'm late to the party on this, and coming basically empty-handed, but a couple of things struck me from your post:
1) This discussion may in fact be more about the interpretation of the rules than a change in the rules, especially to some; but it seems to me that, in the golf world, and for competitive amateurs and pros alike, it's effectively the same thing...with all the time and processes that a formal rule change implies/requires.
2) I am making an assumption that the rule makers, even if they received some formal submission regarding a change, would treat the issue slowly and methodically, in part because they are aware of the possibility of "unintended consequences" that I mentioned earlier. As you say, the game of golf takes too long to play, in part because of all this 'aligning' that's going by Joe Hacks. But look what’s happened, even just in the context of this thread, when we think about changing that: i.e. a number of new ideas and new 'rules' and new issues have sprung up almost immediately, all of them in reaction to (and as consequences of) the idea of ending the alignment practice. I can only imagine what other unintended consequences a more formal and lengthy process might discover...or what those consequences would mean out in the world, on the course.
By the way, I rarely 'align' the ball myself, not because I think I'd be cheating but mostly because I forget to, and also because I find that it doesn't help me very much at all -- only a good solid stroke along with a decent read does the trick, and on the rare times that I get both, the putt goes in or at least has a chance, whether I've aligned the ball or not.
My personal feeling is that, as a non-competing amateur, I should try my very best to honestly play (and count my score) in keeping with the rules of the game as defined by the USGA/R&A, and I believe that if I do this I am honouring the spirit of the game. If and when the USGA/R&A change the rules, I'm sure I'll hear about it, and will then play according to the NEW rules, and will continue to honour the spirit of the game. I can understand, though, how tournament players might feel differently.
Peter