Hi Chris-I don't disagree with anything you have said. I have heard something similar about "God" being found in the human brain; I seem to remember something about studies they have done to show that a certain part of the brain is very active when a person is having a "spiritual" experience.Like you said, this would not prove the non-existence of God, just that parts of our brain are more active when having a spiritual experience! of course, the atheist would say that the person is having the spiritual experience BECAUSE that part of the brain is "lighting up" rather than the brain "lighting up" because of the spiritual experience. I did a little more reading on near death experiences in wikipedia; interestingly one of the theories is that under stress of impending death the pineal glad releases a large amount of DMT (which is pruduced in the body and same chemical in the shaman's concoctions) which may account for these experiences. I was not aware that the human body produced DMT. Like you said, a release of a chemical in the brain like DMT might account for several things, including alien abduction accounts, hauntings, etc.
_________________Todd