If the goal is to kill the melee healer playstyle, why not just give Holy Priests and Paladins the same set of skills and talents? If I’m forced to stand in the back and hard-cast, it doesn’t matter if the spell is called Flash of Light or Smite—the gameplay is identical.
The EL nerf is the breaking point. It’s reached a stage where I’m forced to hard-cast Holy Light even while Avenging Crusader is active just to keep people alive. Having to stop hitting targets and start casting during our main burst window completely ruins the spec’s identity and design.