Only if you ask him for it.
And that would entail admitting it was WRONG, which is something I'm not seeing on this thread.
Most of us would take the cowardly way out to save our own lives. That isn't the point. Even if it's the only way out, it's still the cowardly way out, and a majority vote will never turn it into bravery.
What sickens me are the people who post that NONE would do differently in their place, as if there had never been Christian martyrs, as if our American ancestors hadn't been willing to die over matters less important than denying Christ, and as if no one is capable of the same now. Better to mock the ones who pray for courage, rather than look at their own lack of conviction.
Very good points. What I am not seeing in this thread, either, is how far most of us would feel it was okay to go in publicly denying our principles, religious or not. I think this question is going to come to many of us, Christian or not, before too long, when Islam makes its all-out assault or when we find ourselves living in a country that has become Muslim by demographics.
And, as you say, for religious people, there must be some acknowledgement that this was not a good thing, that they were horrified by what their weakness led them to do, etc. Frankly, I dont think I'd be brave enough to stick it out. But there wouldn't be a moment afterwards that I wasn't contrite for it.