Soul Man? Part 2

I think the idea of a soul is not unusual, we don’t know what death is, and it is something we do not have control over. In the person of Jesus of Nazareth you have the story of a person who overcame death by his so-called resurrection. It does not bother the average believer in Jesus that he conveniently ascended to heaven to no longer be heard from or seen again; or at least until his "second" return. He symbolizes our desire to overcome our greatest enemy, death. Mankind have conquered almost everything on this planet except his death. I think it is our imagination and desire to be associated with something that is eternal and supreme. For example, If you listen to any contemporary gospel or "inspiration" station and if you listened to an average song that the words will be how god was worthy of worship because he is holy and if you asked yourself how do we know this is true, that there's a god who is holy and worthy of worship, to be honest we don't, I have yet seen a sea part or a talking snake. I cannot fault Christianity or Islam because they give the answers to one of our greatest fears, the fear of no longer existing. In Islam and Christianity you are given the promise of immortality, which I think is wishful thinking and nothing more. I hate to be the bearer of reality but this is it folks, there is no second chance, no reincarnation, no resurrection, yes your atoms will be absorbed into the natural ecosystem like other natural things but the you who you think you are, this egocentric identity will end when the brain dies. We need to get over the fear of death and live this life, as Epicurus allegedly stated "Death means nothing to us, for when we are, death isn't and when death is, we are not" and that's the way it is. Think about it...

I'm a soul man?

Do we have a soul? What do we mean by soul? Soul is defined as the animating and vital principle in humans, credited with the faculties of thought, action, and emotion and often conceived as an immaterial entity. (The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004. ) I don't think we have a soul. The reason I conclude this, if I did not have a brain and nervous system then I as a Homo Sapien Sapien could neither function nor have knowledge or memory of who I am. For example four years ago, Terry Schiavo, a brain damaged woman was unable to feed herself and after two weeks she died from dehydration and starvation because her brain and nervous system could not animate her limbs to feed or hydrate herself. Also, Alzheimer's disease shut down the brain activity over-time until the brain cell shrinks and stop signaling the heart and other key body functions via the nervous system and thus the person die. For an excellent presentation on the brain and Alzheimer see www.alz.org. If I am wrong then I don't lose anything except I had an incorrect conclusion. Apologists like Dr Peter Kreeft and Gary Habermas believe in an immortal soul may disagree with me, but what evidence do they provide that is factual. There is no evidence for an immortal separate soul, because if there was then a person with severe brain damage would be unaffected by the damage, they would be aware of who they are and should somehow be able to communicate this. It is a fact that if the brain is damaged or diseased then my ideas, memory, knowledge, identity of who I think I am will change. This is significant because if I am right then I need to live this life because I won't exist as the personality or identity I currently am because once my brain activity cease at death then my conception of myself dies. Think about it....