> Neuroscience doesn't have a stance on the philosophical questions of consciousness
Yes they do, I saw Stanford prof Andrew Huberman say we're just a flow of electricity. Read of another neuroscientist that claimed there is no such as reason without emotion. More generally, scientists wade into philosophical waters all the time.
> By concluding that humans are as real as dirt and bricks brings god no closer to evidence.
It does, because humans are only part dirt and bricks. Consciousness is the lynchpin, the thing that cannot be explained in terms of dirt and bricks. Hence, once you admit there is more to reality than the physical, it once again becomes possible to search for God/Atman/Nibbana whatever you prefer.
The arbitrary meatbag is not the whole story of the human.