[jesselt]

I, for one, am very glad that I never studied a single word in romaji. The idea that romaji can act as a stepping stone is a little silly, really. A stepping stone to what exactly? Anyone who is serious about learning the language can learn Kana in 2 weeks or less, and then they can begin to pronounce words correctly. Romaji has become so complicated that there are multiple ways to write words and almost none of them are even used correctly when people write it. Do I write 授業 like jugyou? Because that is how you type it.

What is more is that writing jugyou immediately tells an English speaker that it is pronounced "jug-you" and you have to fight that impulse. When you write じゅぎょう it is clear how it is pronounced.

Romaji may be somewhat common in Japan - certainly not on things like documents, books, etc. - but it is more like a novelty. Japanese people don't actually read entire things written in Romaji, and neither should Japanese learners. There is nothing elitist about this opinion just because you do not like it.