PP, I get what you are saying since there has never been a culture found in history that didn't have some sort of religion. Also the phrase "the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak" is something that we all experience especially as we age.
But the issue here is Judeo-Christian belief found in scripture.
@Cofty,
Consider Psalm 49:15: “But God will ransom my soul from the power of Sheol, for he will receive me.” In Hebrew thought, Sheol was the place of the dead. In this passage, the Psalmist expresses confidence that God will ransom his “soul” from the place of the dead and receive the Psalmist to himself at some point after death.
Notice how his soul is characterized as "me". The bible uses pronouns for each of the parts of man - spirit, soul and body. Pronouns denote personhood and identity not things.
According to Dr. John Cooper, “There is virtual consensus that the Israelites did believe in some sort of ethereal existence after death in a place called Sheol.”
Consider the case of Saul and the medium of Endor (1 Samuel 28) Notice that Samuel, who had previously died, and whose body had been buried (v. 3), retains his personal identity in the shadowy underworld of Sheol. He still knows who he is, remembers Saul, and can function as the Lord’s prophet.
Jesus provides more clarification.
Mat 10:28 “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
And consider Rev. 6: 9-11
I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slain
because of the word of God, and
because of the testimony which they had maintained;
and they cried out with a loud voice, saying,
“How long, O Lord, holy and true,
will You refrain from judging and avenging our blood
on those who dwell on the earth?”
And there was given to each of them a white robe;
and they were told that they should rest for a little while longer,
until the number of their fellow servants and their brethren
who were to be killed even as they had been,
would be completed also.
These dead souls in heaven could think, speak, remember, and be comforted just as we can because they are persons, just like us. I have highlighted the pronouns that characterize these dead souls who are talking as persons, not some sort of life principle or breath as the WT teaches.
