Just when you thought it was time to fire up the grill, along comes Senate Concurrent Resolution 604. If you don’t remember, the resolution, approved by both chambers of the South Dakota Legislature, admonishes citizens to use July to “seek the Lord Most High.”

According to the resolution, South Dakotans are advised to use this July and every July as a month of fasting and prayer “depriving ourselves of those temporary physical comforts so that we may be awakened to our need and hunger for God, humbling ourselves before Him, prayerfully seeking His face, asking for His forgiveness, forsaking all wickedness, and begging Him to bestow His healing, blessing, grace, and mercy upon us, so that we, our communities, our state, and our nation will be transformed in a people fit to be His own.”

Is it just me or does that sound a lot like Lent?

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Resolutions reflect the mood of the Legislature. They don’t require the governor’s signature and don’t have the power of law. And, in the case of SCR 604, no one seems to remember the Legislature’s pledge to get us all to fast and pray in July.

The resolution was approved by the Senate 22-11 and by the House 42-23. Fasting doesn’t really have that many fans. However, the vote totals show that even in deep red, Trump-loving South Dakota, 34 legislators were willing to cast a vote against prayer. Remember, both chambers have only a handful of Democrats. That means 18 Republicans in the House and eight in the Senate cast their vote against prayer. Maybe they didn’t remember that this was an election year. Maybe they just couldn’t bring themselves to vote for such a silly resolution.

Maybe that split vote made the bill’s sponsors realize that they were dangerously close to narrowing the separation of church and state and perhaps running afoul of the First Amendment. Whatever the reason, when July 1 rolled around … crickets.

There were no news releases with a reminder to quit smashing burgers and spend more time in prayer. A cursory search of the internet revealed not a peep about July’s need for us to humble ourselves and ask forgiveness. A check of the Facebook pages of the resolution’s House and Senate sponsors showed that they didn’t even make an effort to remind their friends.

There’s got to be a reason why this was important enough to vote on during the legislative session and then forget about in July. The reason is simple. It’s all for show.

The bill’s 12 sponsors were wanna-be culture warriors, determined to show the rest of the Legislature and their constituents that they are more conservative than the next guy. If it really meant something to them, they would have howled their heads off leading up to July 1. Instead, they left it up to us to just remember to fast and pray. Even the church knows that won’t work.

We’re not going to just remember when it’s time to be good. We’re not going to straighten up on spec. That’s what Ash Wednesday is for. The Christian church gives us a literal marker that lets us know when it’s time to concentrate on prayer, fasting and alms-giving. In the case of this legislative Lent there was … nothing.

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The failure of lawmakers to remind us of this important time in July should serve as a symbol for how seriously we should take it when they try to insinuate themselves into our religious lives. In 2019 they managed to mandate that “In God We Trust” be displayed on a prominent wall in our schools.

They weren’t as successful in 2025 when an attempt to clear some more space on school walls for the state motto, “Under God the People Rule,” failed. Also going down in defeat that year was a measure to display the Ten Commandments in schools as well as teach about the commandments’ historical significance.

There’s a chance that the next Legislature might not be as willing to go all culture warrior on our religious rights. Of the 12 sponsors of SCR 604, two didn’t seek reelection, three were defeated in the primary and one is under pressure to drop out of the general election because he’s facing a felony indictment for falsifying election documents. Now there’s a fellow who needs some prayers.

Here’s hoping that the 2027 Legislature is less concerned with religion and more concerned with balancing the budget and finding decent funding increases for schools, healthcare and state employees. They won’t need to swing for the fences and try to save my immortal soul. My priest is already hard at work on that.