What a difference a week makes in Volusia County politics. . . 

Just last Tuesday, our self-anointed eminence grise, District 5 Volusia County Councilman – The Very Reverend Dr. Fred Lowry – seemed to have fully emerged from a weird chrysalis, transforming before our eyes from an ineffectual lump – an inanimate houseplant perched on the dais of power who didn’t say two words during his first term in office – into a virtual parliamentary expert who relished taking our neophyte Chairman Jeff Brower to the woodshed for his every procedural faux pas and misstep using arrogant histrionics, annoying “Hear, Hear’s,” and toad-like puffery.   

It became obvious to even a casual observer of this bimonthly théâtre de l’absurde that His Eminence was leading a blatant behind-the-scenes effort by those stalwarts of the status quo (inside government and out) to marginalize Chairman Brower and diminish any political momentum he may have had after decisively defeating the Old Guard’s preferred candidate with a voter mandate for change.   

The Rev. Lowry had clearly come into his own – and, week-after-week, he aggressively fulfilled his marching orders to wrest power from Chairman Brower and return it to those elite political insiders who believed they had rightfully purchased it with massive campaign contributions to their political handmaidens.  

These must have been heady days for Rev. Lowry.

He repeatedly put the boots to the accident-prone Chairman Brower, then sat back, arms folded with an overconfident sense of pride, as his “colleagues” on the political tag-team joined in the near non-stop beatdown of Brower and everything he stands for.   

In turn, it looked certain that Rev. Lowry was on his way to the at-large seat in 2022.

Then, the hopes and dreams of Rev. Lowry’s uber-wealthy handlers went off the rails. . .  

Look, I am clearly not a religious man – at best a lapsed Episcopalian, the sheep who got lost – but I have a highly developed conscience and have never forgotten the biblical wisdom of King Solomon, who said, “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before the fall.”  

As often happens at the nexus of politics and religion, His Eminence virtually imploded in the pulpit of the Deltona Lakes Baptist Church during a May 30 sermon to the faithful – a weird allocution that ran the gamut of half-baked political nuttery – from wild conspiracy theories to descriptions of macabre Satanic rituals involving child sacrifice, even a puzzling denial of the Coronavirus pandemic – bizarre pontifications, literally from the lunatic fringe, that left many of his constituents rightfully horrified. 

Others openly questioned his clearly tenuous grip on reality. . .    

During his strange oration, the Right Reverend used a call-and-response strategy, best described in a blockbuster essay by the Orlando Sentinel’s Editorial Board last week:

“…a Facebook Live video shows one of Volusia County’s top elected officials preaching to the congregation about satanic rituals and torturing children and using their blood to extract a compound called adrenochrome, which is then used in the belief it brings on hallucinations, intensifies personalities and slows the aging process.

“This issue is supposed to be rampant I hear in Hollywood and among the elite,” Lowry told his flock. “I don’t know if it’s true, but where there’s smoke …” Lowry then held his hand behind his ear and awaited the answer he was looking for: “Fire.”

You read that right. 

I am certainly not going to try to pick Rev. Lowry’s thoughts apart – because I don’t want to understand that level of batshit craziness.   

Do you? 

Before Rev. Lowry had the opportunity to evoke the “forces of evil” defense to the Orlando Sentinel’s editorial drubbing; on Friday, the Reverend L. Ron Durham – a busy man who wears a variety of hats as a pastor, part-time Community Relations director for the City of Daytona Beach, president of the Volusia County Democratic Black Caucus, who is no stranger to controversy himself – joined in the growing calls for Lowry’s resignation, or outright removal from office, after losing the confidence of his constituents:

“We are calling into serious question Mr. Lowry’s ability and judgement when it comes to making significant decisions that will affect the lives of those living here in Volusia County. Decisions made by the Volusia County Council should be rooted in fact,” Rev. Dr. L. Ronald Durham, president of the caucus, said in a Friday news release.”

So, I guess that tells us who will be running for the Volusia County Council at-large seat (again) next year, eh? 

Whatever.

The Nazi Joseph Goebbels, who served as the Reich’s chief propagandist, is credited with the quote, “Repeat a lie often enough and it becomes the truth” – an effective strategy that uses repetition to make something appear true, even if it isn’t – creating what psychologists refer to as an “illusion of truth.”

This despicable tactic is especially troublesome when it is used by a recognized authority figure to sway public opinion, demonize political opponents, or draw attention to ones failing church. . . 

In my view, as a pastor – a shepherd of his flock who places the esteemed honorific “Doctor” before his name – and a duly elected representative of the people of Volusia County, Rev. Lowry has a duty to the truth – because most reasonable people consider the source when judging the plausibility of a statement or theory. 

Look, as a blowhard blogger, I am a prime example that, as Americans, we are all entitled to our personal opinions and goofy theories on the ways of the world.

But I firmly believe those who hold lofty positions of public trust have a sworn obligation to stop repeating falsehoods, perpetuating already debunked claims, and using misdirection to achieve a personal or political end.

That’s wrong.

And, as others have been so quick to point out to Chairman Brower – a powerful elected official simply cannot change hats at their whim – because it is corrosive to the public’s confidence in their government – and fosters a growing cynicism and suspicion of those things we were once so certain of – those institutions that form the bedrock of our core beliefs and values – a growing wariness of the heart that has brought us to this dangerous and difficult place in our local and national history.

I know it is hard to believe – but we deserve better than this. 

Now that Rev. Lowry has exposed his true personal beliefs – revealed the glaring contradiction between his religious teachings and civic policy decisions, especially regarding his repeated votes on the dais to accept millions in federal Coronavirus relief funds for something he clearly believes to be the greatest hoax in the history of mankind – I believe he has a duty to resign from his position of political influence.

Then, The Right Reverend is free to spew any bilgewater he wants from the comfort and protection of his haughty pulpit in Deltona and no one, other than those unfortunates who choose to listen to his tripe, will be the worse for it.