Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Evolution in the South, Pt. 2

Yesterday I revealed that when I went to public school, evolution was not taught. Allow me to back pedal and tell a story of my education beforehand: I was homeschooled until tenth grade, and my Mother purchased Christian Biology books for me to use. No doubt her intentions were good. The Biology books I used always taught against evolution, and did so in a way that anyone familiar with creationist propaganda will recognize. I took a look at the books, which my Mom still has, and they say all of the following: Neanderthals were just people with rickets, Man's closest living relative is the bullfrog, Evolution breaks the Second Law of Thermodynamics, and so on and so on. There are more errors in those books' discussion of evolution than I could possibly document.


One particularly interesting feature of this book (Published by A Beka) is that it states vestigial organs, such as the appendix and tailbone, all serve a purpose and are therefore not evidence of evolution. Later on, it states that the "vestiges of legs and a pelvis" found in snakes are evidence that they are descended from legged creatures, as implied by Genesis (In Gen. 3:14 God curses the snake to crawl on its belly, implying it previously walked). If vestigial organs may serve a purpose, be it a lesser one, and are still evidence of a creature's ancestry, then why don't these folks take the tailbone, intristic ear muscles, goosebumps, etc. as evidence of our descent from other animals?

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

"If vestigial organs may serve a purpose, be it a lesser one, and are still evidence of a creature's ancestry, then why don't these folks take the tailbone, intristic ear muscles, goosebumps, etc. as evidence of our descent from other animals?"

Because the Bible clearly indicates that the snake (serpent) was cursed by God to crawl on its belly, thus indicating that it once had legs. It says nothing about man being related to apes.

Spirula said...

(Ex-fundy, Christian school and Christian college here.)

Had not read the bullfrog one before. That's a hoot.

By the way, it was creation "science" that I heard from my biology teachers in high school and college that started my deconversion.

Global flood=fossil record? I thought "You have to be shitting me!" Violates all we know about hydrology and geology.

Canopy "Theory"? Hydroplate "Theory"?! Talk about pulling it out of your ass. The great thing about creation "science" is that it is really inexpensive. All you need is a bible and a lack of integrity. No lab, no experiments, no peer-reviewed scientific publications necessary.

Spirula said...

vestigial organs...all serve a purpose and are therefore not evidence of evolution

So what would be their exlanation as to the function of wisdom teeth? God is looking out for oral surgeons?

For that matter, the rapid pace at which the modern human jaws have changed since earlier Homo ancestors (reduction of prognathism, jaw mass, tooth size and mandibular gap) has occured at such a rapid pace* it has led to a variety of orthodontic issues. Unlike modern humans, it would be rare to find wild animals in need of braces.

*believed to have been prompted by tool use (butchering) and cooking.