Amos Yee: He is an Idiot.
However: what he did was nothing more than baiting, and you took it. The joke is on you.
Freedom of speech and freedom from responsibility yadda yadda yes. But remember also that
1. Freedom of speech is a precondition for freedom of religion.
2. Freedom of speech necessarily means the freedom to offend.
I don't recommend offending people, but taking away the right to do it is a different matter altogether. It shows a smallness of mind and a smallness of heart.
Put another way: you could have walked away and remained the bigger person, but you let him pull you down to his level.
I don't think *all* speech should be protected. Death threats and incitement to violence come to mind. But what Amos Yee did was a teenager's pathetic attempt at an edgy opinion piece. The correct response was to laugh at it and pat him on the head and tell him to run along. Too late now.
Grace Teng
*Article first appeared on her facebook page here.