I think I can answer all your questions by saying that I like to be very careful about which battles I choose to fight and which hill I'd consider dying on.
Dying at the hands of these punks (yes, they are punks, in the sense that they are weak and cowardly) under these circumstances would not have accomplished one single thing in the struggle to defend freedom.
As I've said previously, agreeing to their cheap demands demonstrates the cheapness of their religion.
Some people have said in all sincerity that THIS is the hill they'd want to die on. In response, they have been called liars, fools, braggarts, and extremists; embarassments; clueless, judgmental, pious, holier-than-thou, un-Christian AND the equivalent of radical Islam. All for daring to suggest that anyone might possibly have done anything differently or better than Steve and Olaf. Or, heaven forbid, that their becoming ventriloquists' dummies for Islam just might not have been the best thing that anyone in the wide world could have done under the same circumstances.
Dying at the hands of these punks (yes, they are punks, in the sense that they are weak and cowardly) under these circumstances would not have accomplished one single thing in the struggle to defend freedom.
They're not punks. We're not talking about a street encounter with armed teens wanting to steal your wallet (though I'm beginning to think most people would fight harder for their wallets).
This is part of a plan for domination. They're going to accomplish their goals through fear.
You don't think it's wrong, under duress, to assume the mere form of their religion as long as you get to keep the substance of your own. I do. I also think that the form of submission is all the Islamics require or want (and I am not in favor of giving these guys what they want). They don't care if we are only going through the motions. They only care that they have the power to force us to go through the motions at their command. And looking around me, I see that they do indeed have the power. Despite the military superiority of the West, as individuals we're paralyzed by the fear of becoming the next Daniel Pearl, or of what these animals might do if they're not given exactly what they want, no matter how unreasonable. So from individuals and small groups come the capitulations. Cartoons are suppressed. Movie scripts are altered. Frescoes containing the image of Mohammed are covered, so the the church won't be burned down. Grown men put on costumes and read from scripts.
Now they've got FOX News dancing on strings, singing the praises of those beautiful Palestinians and preparing to recite the epic poem that is Their Story. Some free press. And all because they're now afraid that if they utter the least criticism of these savages, the next journo snatched off the street won't get out of it so easily.
How has any of THAT helped in the struggle to defend freedom, hmmm?
As I've said previously, agreeing to their cheap demands demonstrates the cheapness of their religion.
To them, it only confirms the cheapness of ours. How much could Jesus be worth, if so many have already decided in advance that denying Him even symbolically before men---and it doesn't get much more "before men" than on television---is definitely the way to go?