What is our country coming to? I have been on the verge of tears since Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump promoted a Muslim registration database after the Paris massacre by ISIS. Who is this man whose answers to our serious national and international problems reveal blatant racial, religious and ethnic prejudices and is, nevertheless, at the top of the polls to win his party’s nomination next year? Who are the people that are supporting him and his repellent beliefs?

It’s irrelevant that I am Jewish; I am an American, and I believe in the values expressed in our Constitution and Bill of Rights.

Are we going the way of the Nazis and their odious actions against German Jews during the ’30s and ’40s? Hitler and his monstrous crew mandated that German Jews wear yellow stars to identify themselves as Jews.

Will Trump and his supporters mandate that Muslims wear the star and crescent to identify themselves as Muslims? The best interpretation of this new Trump advocacy is that he’s pandering to the fears and prejudices of his base; the worst and saddest interpretation is that he and his supporters honestly and sincerely believe a registry is a good idea. It is so very hard to be optimistic about the direction our country is traveling these days.

Salye Stein

Durango