It is arbitrary when you pick an anchor point based on what you think it should be, and it is a problem when you judge later things based upon that arbitrary anchor point. If you dislike how paladins have moved away from being inextricably tied to religion, that's perfectly fine, and you're not wrong, but once you declare all later paladins to basically be playing a game of telephone based on your personal preference start point, then you should not be surprised to get some pushback, especially when you make statements involving said later paladins.