Why take a Red Mage?

[Black Mage FF1]

Note: This is meant to be an intelligent debate. In other words, no posts that say something useless like "Red Mages r0x0rs!" or "Red Mages are the Anti-Christ!" Keep it smart, people.

Now, my question is, why should an experienced FF1 player likie myself take a Red Mage?

Please, actual reasons are preferred, not just personal preferrence.

You should take the Red Mage because he is a great character. He is better then the Black Mage. He has the second best attack throughout majority of the game. He has decent hp (better then the Black Mages). He has great defense throughout majority of the game. He can also use both white and black magic which is really helpful. There really is no reason to NOT take him. Who do you use instead of the Red Mage? The thief? If so then that is a poor decision considering that the
- RMs are physically stronger than Thieves
- RMs have more HP than Thieves
- RMs can use much more magic than Thieves
- RMs have more MagDef than Thieves.