Same difference, or not

 

Here is a famous quote from E.M. Forster:  "If I had to choose between betraying my country and betraying my friend, I hope I should have the guts to betray my country."

This is also famously contentious, or at least unsettling.  I was thinking about it in the context of political persuasions, and the anti-government but pro-America current stance.  I doubt if many of those voting on such principles, right or left (there is a version of the sentiments for each) would automatically endorse Forster's statement.  But what if you recast it slightly:

"If I had to choose between betraying the State and betraying my friend, I hope I should have the guts to betray the State."

In that version, the guts required would not be so much moral courage as the courage to risk the consequences the State is capable of inflicting.  

Essay question:  Do you agree with either, or neither, or both?  What is the difference, if any, between the two versions, and is it a substantive one?