Mining in Society

Some of our readers may remember a few years ago when firebirdluver posted a letter he had written and sent to the Chief Scout Executive. The letter advocated a Mining Merit Badge, and the post was meant as an example of how we should be involved in these kinds of things, outside of the boundaries of our callings and our comfort zones.

You may have heard that this week, at the SME's (the professional association mentioned in that letter) conference in Salt Lake, the new Mining in Society Merit Badge will be launched. Firebirdluver will be there. Having been on the task force that put the merit badge together, he was not about to miss the official unveiling of it.

He, of course, already has his name in to be a counselor for the merit badge in our district. There is a lot of excitement across the district about the merit badge, because mining is one of the two main industries here. A majority of the people who live in our town are involved in mining on some level.

I know there is, and will continue to be, a lot of debate over whether this merit badge is redundant alongside a couple of the others, whether it is politically correct, or whether it is something the scouts really need. It is an opportunity, though, to open the eyes of scouts to an industry that we could not live without.

So keep in mind, the next time you are thinking about whether your ideas are important enough to be listened to, or whether you should be involved in something that you feel is important, that you can make a difference, but only if you put forth the effort to do something.