THE CONTINUING APPENDIX DEBATE

By Dr. Eusebio Tanicala

This writer has seen his own removed appendix that was placed in a small bottle by surgeons. So he knows what an appendix is.

In past decades, Darwinian evolutionists, on one hand, declared that the appendix is a useless organ, a vestige of the evolutionary process. It was further claimed that in the future, as the human species would develop progressively, this useless organ shall be discarded. Creationists have clung to the belief that God is an intelligent designer and has a purpose for this small organ that is found in man.

Unfortunately (or fortunately) last month the internet science news section came out with the story that some medical researchers from reputable universities have confirmed that the appendix is a factory of “good flora.” One reader who reacted to our story recognizes the medical research conclusion, but he goes out of the issue and talks about evolution as a science.

Let’s stick to the specific issue at hand. It is the human appendix. The proposition in this ongoing debate is “The appendix is a useless organ, a vestige of the evolutionary process.” Darwinian evolutionists and atheistic materialists have affirmed the proposition.

Since medical researchers have recently confirmed the appendix’s usefulness to the well-being of the human body.  The creationists may claim the medical research's conclusion in favor of their side. Stick to the issue. Stay with the issue in the appendix. Don’t bring out strawman in other sections of the evolution debate. We’ll come to those issues in due time.

If Darwinian evolutionists could not refute the conclusion of the recent medical researches that declared the appendix is a factory of “good flora” we request these evolutionists issue out an apology for their “scientific error.” I hope the apology is forthcoming.

Another issue where creationists are taken to task is the question that is premised on one convincing argument of creationism: Intelligent Design (ID). The Darwinian evolutionist asked in the past: “If God is an intelligent designer, what then is the purpose of an organ that is prone to infection?” As a Bible student, this is my answer:

Corollary to the Darwinian evolutionist claim, the appendix is a useless vestigial organ, the evolutionist should consider these steps:  (1) please identify what’s supposed to be the nearest species from which the human species evolved from, (2) determine if these prior species have an appendix, (3) confirm or deny the initial information that the less developed hominoids (chimpanzees, gibbons, apes, orangutans) have no appendix.