"Submit a patch" may be "fuck you" but that's not what he said, it was more like: "It's not as easy as you think. You can prove me wrong by submitting a patch.". This second is not reasonably interpreted as "fuck you".
That makes me wonder, what does it mean to be a NATO officer, and is that how he would describe himself? Or would he be an officer of country X who is assigned to NATO duties at the time? Like, does he wear a NATO uniform? Or the uniform of his nationality? Are you in your countries military org chart and NATO's, or just NATO's? Or does NATO even have an independent org chart or officer hierarchy? Are there units permanently dedicated to NATO service, or is it just mapped on to national units in an ad hoc manner when needed?
I have an acquaintance who looks white but was named Mohammed (he is Kurdish). He changed his name to "Michael" because, as he said, "It's easier to say... like for example at the airport."
I agree about referencing the word "nigger", Louis CK has a bit where he says he hates the phrase "the n-word" because, "you still put the word 'nigger' into my head, so it's not like you didn't say it".
But socially one probably has to accept reality, there's a court case about a guy who was fired for saying the word, not using it in a derogatory way but just referring to the word itself.
Looking at Grandparent's link, they also execute drug traffickers, which is kind of excessive, IMO.
And "better society" isn't the only reason to believe in "free speech". Another reason is the moral principle that one should not be imprisoned for a political opinion.