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Earlier this morning, Donald Trump showed his true colors by suggesting that it might be a good idea for Muslims in the United States to carry and wear special badges identifying their religious beliefs.

Exactly as the Jews were forced to do in Nazi Germany.

Speaking to Yahoo News, Trump declared:

“We’re going to have to do things that we never did before. Some people are going to be upset about it, but I think that now everybody is feeling that security is going to rule.”

It should be noted that the Nazi policy of forcing Jews to wear a Star of David played a major role in paving the way for acceptance of the Holocaust in Germany, according to historians. As the Holocaust Center has noted:

“The German government’s policy of forcing Jews to wear identifying badges was but one of many psychological tactics aimed at isolating and dehumanizing the Jews of Europe, directly marking them as being different (i.e., inferior) to everyone else. It allowed for the easier facilitation of their separation from society and subsequent ghettoization, which ultimately led to the deportation and murder of 6 million Jews.”

Trump also would not rule out using warrantless searches as part of his plan to increase surveillance of Muslim houses of worship, and he has also suggested that American mosques could be shut down if they are thought to be a security threat:

“Certain things will be done that we never thought would happen in this country in terms of information and learning about the enemy. We’re going to have to do things that were frankly unthinkable a year ago.”

As if this wasn’t enough, the GOP frontrunner also said he was open to registering U.S. Muslims in a special computer database:

“We’re going to have to look at a lot of things very closely. We’re going to have to look at the mosques. We’re going to have to look very, very carefully.”

Speaking only for myself here, when I read Trump’s comments, I have to admit that I suddenly became very afraid for my country. And I recalled a line from Benjamin Franklin:

“Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.”

Once we cross that line, there is no going back.

Featured image by Wikimedia, available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial license.