In 1933, Nazi Germany created the Nuremberg Laws, which prosecuted Jewish people in Germany and required them to register as such. The Nazis loved them needing to be registered in a system. It made it easier to keep track of and persecute them when they felt like doing so, even with no actual reason.

Coincidentally, Donald Trump also likes the idea of registering an entire group of people in a system. Even scarier, he is still the front-runner in the Republican Party.

I really didn’t think I could despise Trump and his bid for the presidency more than I already had. I didn’t think it was possible. And then he said he’s supportive of the idea of a registry for Muslims as well as saying he would “certainly implement that, absolutely.”

He also said he believes that we—as in the U.S.—are going to have to do things we have never done, things we never thought about before. All of this is to protect ourselves from terrorism. He’s suggesting tactics used by the Nazis in World War II to keep ourselves safe from terrorists. I would say I’m surprised, but this is the same man who truly believes he knows more about ISIS than the Generals do. By doing this, he is being the most blatant definition of a bigot imaginable.

We cannot file an entire group of people, in this case Muslims, as evil based on the actions of a few. What ISIS is doing and continues to do is deplorable and I am not saying they aren’t a threat to U.S. National Security. But what Trump is suggesting is wrong legally, politically and most importantly, morally.

The logic Trump uses is unreal. We don’t classify all Christians by the actions of the KKK, Christian extremist groups who bomb one out of every five abortion and reproductive health clinics or Neo-Nazis. So why do we do it to Muslims? Because we are scared.

Fear is no way to run a government, and certainly not national security. By suggesting the idea of registering Muslims in a database, Trump is acting out of extreme fear and political and policy unintelligence—i.e. the same way he has run his entire campaign. It is time for the rest of the Republican Party and mainstream media to call out Trump on his horrific views, denounce and attack him with the same gusto he has been attacking them and spewing foolish lies for his vague policy plans. If the U.S. continues on this path of ignorance and bigotry toward Muslims, we become the very thing we are fighting.

ISIS operates off of the fear of others and the fear of losing power. Putting Muslims into a database or even possibly making them carry an identification card in yet another Nazi-like idea—which Trump has not ruled out—is playing right into the hands of terrorism. Bigotry plays right into the hands of ISIS. Trump’s plans play right into the hands of ISIS. If this path of fear and racism does not end soon, the United States will only hurt our own chances of defeating ISIS.

Ashley Atherton is an opinion writer for The Kent Stater. Contact her at [email protected].