Despite his original reluctance to join the Debate Team, he found himself leafing through its pamphlet's few pages on a Saturday afternoon. His eyes scanned through the little introductory to the club and found himself actually liking the idea of being in a room where his views would be constantly challenged, where he was able to challenge that of others' without being shot down, chided, or as usual: ignored. So, clutching the pamphlet he'd almost thrown in the trash, he headed to a lecture hall labelled 'Debate Room'.
When he was outside the room, he could already hear muffled sounds of what was going on.
"The House calls the First Speaker of the Proposition to the floor for the motion, This House supports public criticism and campaigns against ultra-right religious groups."
He slipped in swiftly and as silently as he could manage and sat down in a seat at the back of the hall. Sherlock wondered what his stance on the motion would be, if provided the option of deciding. Around twenty-five people were scattered around the hall, notepads in front of them and pens in their hands, but six people -two teams of three each - sat down at tables at the forefront of the hall, facing the rest. A woman clad in skinny jeans and a cardigan over a camisole stood up to walk to the table that was placed slightly in front of and between the two sets of tables.
"Hate the sin, love the sinner. This is what normal religious groups say, but ultra right religious groups would say: Hate the sin, hate the sinner, and bomb the hell out of him. Ultra right religious groups are groups that are hostile toward other groups, they are ultra conservative groups, and they are groups which oppress other groups, a certain gender, race or religion."
Sherlock relaxed in his seat and watched the speaker intently, a frown borne out of concentration appearing on his face. He found himself with the pleasure of being pleasantly surprised at the level of intellect that was behind the argument that was just put forth.
"They are groups like the KKK in the USA, and the Neo-Nazis in Germany. They possess obstructionist views and behaviour. All of this then becomes a problem because what they aim to do is to convince others of the beliefs and impose their beliefs on others. Their success is predicated upon the destruction of societal fabric and freedom of expression." The debater continued, articulate, expressive, dominant, and convincing.
Thoughts began racing through Sherlock's mind about ways to refute the speaker's statements, accompanied by a feeling of determination. Normally, this determination would not exist, but it did this time, for he wanted to think of a counter-argument that would at least baffle the speaker for a moment. He started scribbling these thoughts down on a sketch pad he brought along. If these groups were so bad, why not just ban them? Why are these groups treated so differently just because of the extent of their damage?
"Point." A deeper voice that certainly did not come from the female debater said, interrupting the speaker.
Sherlock looked up and saw a man from the opposing team standing. He thought for a moment that he should have read up on the format of debates.
"Yes." The female speaker replied.
"These groups should be outright banned if they are as bad as you claim." He stated and sat down.
Sherlock was actually surprised that another in the room shared his line of thought.
"Sir, we think it is harmful for people to have these beliefs, but we aren't outright banning them because we can't prevent them from having these views - it's impossible to do so. The only thing we can do is to campaign against these views. Besides, we are advocates for the freedom of expression; we do think these people have a right to their ideologies and views. We simply can't have them killing others for not sharing the same beliefs!"
Some people around the room nodded in agreement. Sherlock was absolutely enthralled by the debate that was going on, and he'd feel a strange sensation of satisfaction every time someone delivered a good rebuttal or argument. By the end of the debate, a full page and a half of his sketchpad was filled with writings. He stood up to walk down to the front where the various debaters gathered.
"Hey," Greeted the female debater who took on the role of First Proposition, "I'm Charlie. What's your name?"
"Sherlock Holmes." He introduced.
"Thinking of joining?" Charlie asked.
"Yes, I think so. I've never actually done this before." Sherlock admitted.
"Anyone's welcome. Drop by next week at 12:30. It starts at one but I'll give you a quick introductory training session." Charlie offered.
Sherlock smiled. "I'll remember."
And every Saturday afternoon thereafter, Sherlock headed to the same room.