Given that the punishment for an apostate is death, why is there such severity?

The punishment for apostasy from the religion of Islam is death, based on the Almighty's saying: (And whoever of you reverts from his religion and dies while he is a disbeliever - for those, their deeds have become worthless in this world and the Hereafter, and those are the companions of the Fire; they will abide therein eternally) and on the Prophet's (peace be upon him) saying: (Whoever changes his religion, kill him), and his saying: (The blood of a Muslim man who testifies that there is no god but Allah and that I am the Messenger of Allah is not lawful except in one of three cases: a life for a life, the married fornicator, and the one who abandons his religion and separates from the community). This strictness has several reasons, including: deterring those who enter Islam hypocritically, preventing defection from the Muslim community, and protecting the religion from distortion by apostates.