Some people joke that men in Canada are treated as less valuable than dogs. When an emergency occurs, the order that groups are protected is children first, then physically challenged people, senior citizens, ladies, dogs and lastly men, in that order. A few years ago a dog fell into a river swollen to a dangerous level due to a spring flood. The news media diligently reported the scenes of the dog's rescue by fire fighters and the special rescue teams. After being successfully rescued, the dog was treated as if it were a precious child, wrapped in a warm blanket and immediately sent to an animal hospital by an ambulance. It seemed as if the treatment of the dog was better than that of an ordinary man like me.
No matter what, a dog is a dog, one of animals. But in Canada, the dog is considered more than an animal. This UC Chimes does not intend to criticize the treatment and the value judgement of the dog in Canada, rather I simply wish to point out a characteristic of the dog: "a barking dog does not bite!" Someone told me that his dog was so faithful and listened to him so well that it seemed to be more like a member of his family. Yes indeed, sometimes a dog can be like a friend or a family member especially for the person who lives alone and needs a companion. Historically dogs have lived with people with more intimate relationships than any other animal. Most dogs are good, faithful, quiet, and don't bark all the time.
Recently headline news have been broadcast regarding the threat of a nuclear attack by North Korea on U.S. territory, South Korea or even Japan. The mass media of countries outside of South Korea have been responding to the news much more heatedly than the media inside South Korea. The South Korean news media have been relatively silent and consider it as the barking words of the childish leader Kim of North Korea, in an attempt to get some benefits and to take an advantageous negotiating position relative to South Korea and the United States. These negotiations are especially important for food relief and necessities for the poor people of North Korea who are almost starving to death. The young and inexperienced leader Kim is making noise, as did his father and grandfather, in order to getthe recognition of his family's regime, called Kim's dynasty, from other countries and to use this threat as a way of controlling his people. Otherwise the silent majority of North Korean people might pay more attention to the economic prosperity under the democratic political system of South Korea, the United States or Japan, which surround them.
The old proverb states that a barking dog does not bite, however, the more response it gets, the more noise it makes. Not only does Kim's regime not have the capability or energy to declare war against two countries simultaneously, South Korea and the United States, but both countries are substantially more powerful than him. And he knows that if the war breaks out, he and his family's dynasty will be erased from the earth forever. So he keeps on barking instead of taking any real action. Leave a barking dog alone until it barks itself out and stops. Although it can be annoying, but we want to respond to it, the dog will bark more loudly and viciously. The Bible advises, "The quiet words of the wise are more to be heeded than the shouting of a ruler among fools" (Ecclesiastes 9:17). A barking dog only disturbs us, it does not bite. Let us pay more attention to the human rights violations and starvation of the silent North Korean people rather than their barking ruler.
