One of the basic principles of Christian morality dictates that the individual human being must be viewed as an end, not as a means to an end.

This principle can best be understood by contemplating one of the most lurid violations thereof ? the Nazi practice of using Jews and others they regarded as sub-human as involuntary subjects in medical experiments. In similar fashion, experiments with human embryos involve the destruction of human individuals often created for that sole purpose.

Such treatment of human beings is called utilitarianism, an ideology justifying the abuse of some in the service of what is considered the greatest good for the greatest number.

The federal government recently announced a $50 million, 5-year project under which medical researchers in hospitals would conduct experiments without obtaining permission from patients. The studies would focus on victims of car accidents, shootings, cardiac arrest, and other forms of trauma.

In its ethical perspective, that program is not far removed from the Nazi experiments that are now universally condemned.

Let us stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free.