160 Some Ethical and Theological Considerations animal, such as a dog or pig might have superior rationality to a severely handicapped human infant. He adds that it might well be kinder to such an infant to offer treatment that leads to death. Singer contends this matter ultimately should be left up to the wishes of the parents. In his view we should respect the desire of a rational human who wants to die and asserts that to give a lethal injection may in certain cases (such as persistent vegetative state) be ethically equivalent to removing a feeding tube (and in his mind preferable and more merci- ful). [5] There are other proponents in favor of active euthanasia and assisted suicide for those who suffer. As a representative of this view Jack Kevorkian suggests such measures are “long over- due” in our society. He contends that Western culture has established ‘arbitrary laws’ against euthanasia and assisted sui- cide because of pressure brought on by religious beliefs. [6] Although advocates of euthanasia and assisted suicide con- tend that such practices are designed in theory to ‘do good’ (beneficence); many critics claim that the application of these measures can lead in a different and even dangerous direction. An editorial in Christianity Today, for example, analyzes recent legislation in Holland that extends a right to die for anyone 16 years old without parental consent. The editor writes: In Germany, the moral memory of Aktion T4, Hitler’s euthanasia law, is still alive. But the Dutch seem to have forgotten that Hitler’s regime first sharpened its execu- tion skills and tested its gas chambers on sick children and disabled adults from 1939 to 1941 before it applied its  new  technical  expertise  to  Jews  at  Auschwitz  and Treblinka. [7]