Lars, the provocative thesis is not so provocative. I said the same in my upcoming book The End of Secularism (see the pre-order page on Amazon), but I was just parroting many others who have made the same point. Still, you are absolutely correct.
And what you said about the person under the lion's claws is straight up Martin Luther. (And you are a Lutheran, I know.) Luther said you should let yourself be beaten down, insulted, and destroyed, but you should defend your neighbor to the last.
Got to get that book. I suppose I've heard or read the Luther quotation before, and just stored it subconsciously.
Am reminded of Bonhoeffer, who seemed to have little trouble joining a conspiracy to illegally murder Hitler. The problem, of course, is that it's a fine line between such exceptional actions and the idea that the individual can judge what is good for humanity.
Actually, I'm told that Bonhoeffer went through great and difficult soul-searching before he agreed to join the conspiracy. He was a pacifist, until the real world overwhelmed his categories.
That's not a bad idea--shocking a bit, but not bad. It reminds me of the news I read today of a family which required their son to fight "Call of Duty," a violent WWII game, with a code of honor and understanding the Geneva Convention's rules. So the boy would not kill game characters who surrendered to him, whereas his friends would for sake of convenience. It helps him understand real moral choices, instead of playing without a conscience.