This morning on the way to work, I was listening to the local radio know-it-all. Because my morning drive is only about 15 minutes long, I often miss parts of discussions, so I don't know why he was talking about “vestigial” organs today. However, as is typical among local radio guys (wherever ‘local' may be), he went off making claims that are untrue, that is: we have many organs in our body that serve no purpose. Such a claim is a favorite of evolutionists that wish to disprove Creation. The ironic thing is though, they appeal to science, but yet disregard copious amounts of research conducted by scientists that subscribe to evolutionary theory.
In 1890, it was believed that the human body contained 180 vestigial organs. That means there were 180 organs that served some purpose in our “evolutionary past”, but no longer serve any purpose at all, or have such a diminished purpose so as to no longer be necessary to life. Through advancements in biological and anatomical understanding, that number gradually went down as we discovered what the actual purposes of those organs are, to the point where the number of vestigial organs believed to be part of the human anatomy in 1999 was 0.
Examples of vestigial organs that are still taught as being vestigial, despite the purpose having been determined are: the coccyx (tail bone), appendix, and tonsils. The coccyx is a set of small bones that evolutionists once believed to be remnants of a tail. That belief was based not on observation (real science), but on the inherent assumption that evolution was correct, and the imagination of the evolutionist. In reality, the purpose of the coccyx is to provide a place for several muscles necessary for the rectum to function properly to attach to. In other words, without your coccyx, you wouldn't be able to keep yourself from soiling your pants. As for the appendix and tonsils, they are important organs for the function of the human immune system. If they are removed, the immune system is weakened and the person gets sick more easily.
While I am very much a Creationist (of the young-Earth variety no less), I respect the atheist's right to believe in evolution. He may be completely wrong, but he has a right to be. However, it is extremely dishonest to continue teaching junk science that their own guys have long-since proven to be false. I have to admit, my own Christian faith has a lot to do with my young-Earth Creationist views, however the staggering amounts of junk science that I was taught in the government schools to brainwash me in evolutionary theory long after it was known to be junk has done a lot to deprogram be from such view of history. While I wish for my Christian/Creationist brethren to win the debate on origins once and for all, I offer this advice to the other side: if you wish to win an argument, it's best not to get caught in a lie. The best way to keep from getting caught in a lie is not to lie in the first place. In other words, stop teaching about vestigial organs. Other lies that you have been caught in include falsified “ancestors” to the human species (such as Nebraska Man and Piltdown Man), as well as the embryonic comparison chart that attempted to show that many animal embryos were very similar to human embryos early in their development, and that human embryos have gills in the first weeks after conception. Such long-debunked examples of junk science, which I was taught in the government schools, only made Creationists look better once I began learning the counter-arguments.
For more on vestigial organs, see Answers in Genesis.
