They take oxygen out of the soil, of course.

I understand that. But in daily practice, many people don't make the distinction for things that are completely without reason, such as bunnies on the moon, or gods. They will happily say things like: "Yes, I'm sure we're out of beer, I just looked in the fridge a minute ago", without giving any consideration to the fact that a bottle may just have popped in there through a wormhole.

How do we know this man Jesus wasn't just some nutcase ?

Our DSL companies have to compete with cable, so there's good incentive to keep improving the local loops.

I pay a fixed monthly amount, plus a variable cost per minute of calling.

The electricity required is quite small. Maybe a few kWh/month per subscriber. One dollar should cover that.

The difference is that you pay for the pipe, and not the data itself. The water company doesn't charge you for the pipe, they charge the water.

You mean when the Holy Bootloader is first flashed into the system ?

On several occasions I have seen a wisp of blue smoke come out of electronic components as they were dying.

There's not much of a difference, actually. Do you have an absence of belief for bunnies hopping on the far side of the moon, or a conviction that there are no such bunnies ?

Human brains were shaped by evolution to be better survival machines. Consciousness just happened as a result. I don't think any special sauce is required.

It will have the rights that others choose to give it, or that can claim for itself. Just like us.

With the holy backup tape ?

The point of all religion is power. The story about souls is just a good way to get people to die for you in battle.

"And God created the Adam. But the Adam was not very successful, partly because of early production problems."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C...

Of course they were. Just like your beliefs. That in itself doesn't help us determine which are true, though.