I also stand by my earlier assessment of Jonathan: "There's more at stake here than our lives and the lives of those around us. The world finds out what you can do, it's gonna change everything, our beliefs, what it means to be human, everything. You saw how Pete's mom reacted, right? She was scared. People are afraid of what they don't understand."
And I still think Jonathan was scared of what they'd do
to Clark when their beliefs were challenged - that they'd lash out. Interestingly, neither Pete nor his mom reacted that way. Pete became far more friendly and more accepting and his mother thought it was the providence of God.
I saw how Pete's mom reacted - she didn't seem scared to me; more awed.
More than that, though, the world can
never be able accept Clark if they never know of him. At least if he reveals himself he's got a shot.
Jonathan is afraid the world will not accept his child, will harm his child. It's how their reaction would affect his child that scares him. It's not for the sake of the world that he cares if they know - it's for the sake of his child.
Seriously, how does the paradigm shift in the world view
hurt the world? Changes, challeges in belief are not bad things. Learning more about the world, the universe, it can be good thing. He never thinks about the people that want to understand.
But more importantly to me, why I think it's all about Clark's well-being when the world finds out: he doesn't talk about civilization's decline, mass murder, mass suicide, etc. No tangible negative effect on society is ever even alluded to - only that people would be scared because they didn't understand. It's about the world not being ready, yes, but it's only because them not being ready constitutes a threat to Clark that it is an issue.
Jonathan, I think, is listening chiefly to his fears, his fears of what society's rejection might mean for his son. I do think him saying it's bigger is ...justification for keeping his son safe at the expense of others. Especially because he never gives a concrete example of the consequence of this fear. And double especially because we don't see this fear in the people Clark helps (might in the sequel, of course). Pete wasn't afraid, didn't lash out. Neither did his mom. Neither did Lana. Neither did Lois. Neither did the oil rig guys. Certainly, the military reacted poorly, but those actually exposed to him most came to his side. It's kind of a thing with Superman - being in the open makes people trust him more.
More exposure leads to more understanding leads to more acceptance - at least in the case of Pete and Colonel Hardy.
It's interesting that it means Jonathan has a dimmer view of humanity than Jor-El. Or perhaps Jor-El just is more aware of Clark's invulnerability. But Jor-El thinks humanity will ultimately find its place in the sun with Clark, while Jonathan doesn't seem think acceptance can happen within Clark's lifetime. Mind you, Jor-El'ls view of his own society was very pessimistic, so maybe you have to be on the outside to be optimistic?
