Donald Trump was officially sworn into the presidential office of the United States two weeks ago. Since then, he has made it harder for women to exercise their rights over their body, relations with Mexico have soured, a record has been set for a majority disapproval with Americans in regards to their presidents, civil rights leaders who worked to fight segregation have been attacked by Trump for not personally solving the problem of poverty and corruption, as well as for speaking out against him, and Trump has gone out of his way to ostracize Muslims and people from the Middle East as non-Americans by instating a travel ban that targets Muslims specifically.

However, this isn't where it ends; now even members of the clergy have lost their heads and are emulating Trump in rhetoric and demeanor. St. Benedict Joseph Labre Roman Catholic Church in Richmond Hill, Queens is overseen by a pastor who, according to the New York Post, has taken a definite stance in regards to the current political climate. Reverend Philip Pizzo is not sitting on the sidelines watching what is happening objectively with compassion, which probably what a priest should do. Instead, he has made it clear that he considered former President Barrack Obama as "not his president", and that Hillary Clinton has an "ugly face", both in the form of pictures posted on social media. Does this sound familiar to anyone?

What makes Reverend Pizzo stand out is how far he is willing to take his love for Trump over his love for God. Despite being of the cloth and having counseled many people over this subject, Pizzo recently posted a meme on his Facebook stating that anti-Trump supporters should kill themselves in the name of social justice in order to protest against Trump. The reality that Pizzo is a priest has people especially concerned. One parishoner who was actually counseled by Pizzo regarding suicide does not feel safe in his church anymore. However, as quoted from the New York Daily Post, Pizzo's defense is "I do not promote suicide, I've helped many people over the years, and it doesn't promote suicide. It was funny."

How is it that a priest who has taken vows to uphold the higher ideals of man and devote himself to God starts thinking he should post "funny" jokes like people should go kill themselves in political opposition to the Priest's own political beliefs? It is clear what he really thinks; he thinks that the anti-Trump protesters are full of it and that they are protesting for the sake of protesting. Yet, who is more full of it, the sheep that a shepherd is meant to watch over, or a shepherd who thinks he is the wolf attempting to kill his prey, but in reality is still a shepherd?

Keep in mind that the St. Benedict Joseph Labre Roman Catholic Church caters to a majority ethnic and immigrant community from the Caribbean. So what does it mean when a priest starts to preach the rhetoric of his politics and the political atmosphere as God's law to the descendants of those who were subject to a similar poisonous rhetoric? Pizzo can claim they are two separate things as much as he wants, but a Priest is one of those occupations that a person doesn't just turn off and on. A priest is supposed to uphold the moral high ground at all times. Yet, because of Trump's influence, Reverend Philip Pizzo is telling people to go kill themselves. I don't know what it means, why it is being said, and for what reason. But I, and the rest of America, know where it is coming from.