Saturday's communal violence in Cairo was wrong and all right-thinking Egyptians should be working hard to cool heads and stop this kind of horror spreading. There are far too many examples of how religious hatred can inflame people and drive them to furious acts which can destroy the trust across society for generations.
At least 10 people were killed and more than 186 wounded during the overnight clashes in Cairo's Imbaba district which left two churches burning.
This outbreak of violence followed similar fighting in March which killed 13 people in another suburb of Cairo, and last month demonstrators in the southern city of Qena stopped all the transport links with Cairo to protest against the appointment of a Coptic governor.
Egypt is moving into a new era, and the polls in September will lead to its first freely elected government, which will set the country on its path for the next generation.
It would be a tragedy for the bright hopes of the January uprising to be usurped by those who want to take advantage of religious intolerance and manipulate people's anger to their own advantage. It is time for Egypt's tolerant majority to speak up and stop the hotheads.
