I think when people say "tables are evil" they really mean "HTML-table markup used for purely presentational purposes are not ideal." But maybe you are right.
Anyway, I agree we are in agreement, except I don't think the quote from CSS2 you mention is normative. (It says can be used, not must be used or should be used) It is just an example. There is nothing normative in CSS about when to use the different styles.
I agree with you... except it is not a myth. There are tons of people walking around and spouting off who have come to believe that "Tables are evil!"
People with considered opinions like you are not in the majority of those speaking.
"Note that CSS does not say that disply:table is only for tabluar data."
It says "Table layout can be used to represent tabular relationships between data." Direct quote, and skimming that page, it's the only normative comment about what it is for. I again agree that CSS doesn't forbid the use in layout, but there definitely are people thinking tabular layouts are forbidden and that only the "IE subset" (again, my best guess at what incoherent thing these people are arguing for) is "pure".
You basically re-iterated my point, but I assure you that you are wrong about what other people think. Go check out the parallel /r/programming post.