"The goal of changing the op-return rules is to preserve the ability of anyone to run a node. "

What’s the connection? Well, people want to put information inside of bitcoin transactions. You may disagree with this idea, but for them there is an economic rationale for doing it. They’re willing to pay good money to publish this information, much like someone might publish a classified ad in a newspaper.

Building your own block template is a great opportunity to filter out transactions. At the relay level, however, you’re only undermining the goals you set out to accomplish.

I fully believe in decentralized systems, as does every Bitcoiner I know. It’s incredible to watch the node running community grow and people feel empowered by helping keep bitcoin decentralized. If you’re not already running a Bitaxe, I’d recommend it. Filter the transactions going into your blocks your Bitaxe is mining if you want to have a say in data on bitcoin.

For the sake of maintaining bitcoin as decentralized system, however, I’d strongly suggest you reconsider filtering the mempool and restricting op-return data.