Preacher Khaled al-Guindy, who attended the relgious discourse conference recently organized by the Endowments Ministry, believes weapons and not thought, are the only ways of combatting terrorism.
The renovation of the religious discourse will not solve the problem of extremism, he said.
"Those who carry weapons cannot be convinced of thought. Those who carry weapons can only be deterred through a criminal punitive procedure by penal institutions."
He described confronting terrorism as "tampering," adding that thought can only be confronted with thought while terrorism with the power of weapons.
Guindy added that attendees of the conference suggested forming a group that will regularly deal with social crises and develop communication with young people on social networking sites.
"We suggested taking a social, financial and cultural interest in imams, as well as focusing on young people and their needs in order to find alternatives to the closed mosques during non-prayer times. We also suggested providing preaching courses for secondary students at Al-Azhar and launching a satellite channel that will reach all segments of society," Guindy mentioned.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
