The premise of your argument is flawed. > For example, it can take thousands of years for the light produced by fusion in the Sun to reach the surface of the p

The premise of your argument is flawed. > For example, it can take thousands of years for the light produced by fusion in the Sun to reach the surface of the photosphere This is not due to free travel of light through a transparent medium with a high index of refraction or due to gravity. Through a large part of the sun energy is transported by convection and even in the radiative zone photons get frequently absorbed and remitted, the mean free path is below 1cm.