Soul? Only in Korea.

(Yes, I know it's Seoul. but the correct spelling ruins the joke)

I have, after much deliberation, decided that there is no such thing as the literal soul.
This is why:
The animating force referred to as the soul is entirely dependent on the physical body for existence. The soul is formed as a result of the interaction between DNA and the environmental forces that affect how DNA is expressed and memories. The physical shape of the brain, (which affects how memories are encoded and, partially, interpreted,) combined with memories is the determining factor in how a person interprets the world and responds. Therefore, a soul is not and cannot be separate from the body.
If a soul cannot be separated from the body, then it cannot go anywhere after the brain is dead. Therefore, no Heaven, no Hell, no Nirvana, no Underworld, no second chance (reincarnation) and no ghosts. (For more in-depth scientific evaluations on ghosts, read Mary Roach's Spook, which is informative and entertaining simultaneously.)
However, this does not prove or disprove God because God could still exist in a different idea of heaven than then Paradise-After-Death version.
Personally, I think that God has only the power on Earth that we allow him. Meaning that he had enormous, world-wrenching power during the Crusades. Now, his power is slightly less violent, and unfortunately, being tarnished by groups like the KKK and the Taliban.
Jesus may or may not have existed, but that does not invalidate his teachings in the slightest. I've heard a rumor that someone accused him of being gay. That does not invalidate them either. And I mean REALLY. That’s getting rather desperate for material.

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