I have been reading some of the responses to Unarmed Defense Isn't a Very Good Strategy and I have run into the same issue from a few different angles.

Self-Defense is combat
It is not a martial arts tournament, it is not a heated debate. At the extreme edge it means that somebody is going to die and hoping it isn't you. All of the preparation of equipment and training does not constitute a guarantee but a chance at cheating the odds and stacking the deck in the deck in your favor. Peoples heads become cluttered with legal, moral, and ethical distractions. Simply stack up all of those abstract concepts against the idea that if you fail to stop the bad guy he is going to murder your children.

Biting Eyeballs
I am huge fan of deescalation and running away, but I also recognize that there are some situations that will be made worse by absence. There are times when it is just going to have to be combat. It might have to be bullets, blades, blood, snot, and a sock full of rocks. If it comes down to it you have to be ready and willing to bite eyeballs, because the all of the finesse options got exhausted.

The Karma Slappers
I have never heard of a martial art that didn't list self-defense as one of it's benefits. The roots of these arts are planted in war (that is the "martial" part) and generally have devolved since then. If modern firearms were available in ancient times there wouldn't be much sword and spear training today. Warriors have never cared too much for dogma and artistic purity. The fact is that if an art doesn't put hurting bad people ahead of spiritual development then it is training karma slappers. Cardio-Karate is better than nothing, but it is not much better than nothing.

A martial can certainly impart moral lessons, but the first one should be 'fight back.' I have often thought that white belt techniques should kill people, brown belt techniques should hurt people, and black belt techniques should embarrass people. Protect yourself before you protect your assailant.

The Unprepared
There are a lot of people that don't want to make the leap. They want to practice meditation but not read about violent victimizations. In many cases this is leading the horse to water, but we really must do our level best to get them to drink. This is a fabric-of-human-society kind of issue.