Well, a VERY well done post, Slag...and near the end, you approach what I consider to BE the one way to handle the human 'need' to relate to the universe and justify the contradictions involved in finding an anchor for his (man's) place in it all.

At some point, it IS possible to just make a "leap of faith" similar to what Kierkegaard explained about Abraham sacrificing Isaac.....one just 'listens' to some inner voice in order to resolve his wonder over how to live & behave.

At the same time, he 'should' be aware that this is ALL he is doing....that the "leap of faith" is only a possibility, not a necessity. There are other ways to ground one's thinking, though usually a lot more work...and not easy to explain to everyone.

For many, being convinced that there was no "ultimate spiritual authority" would just be a license for anarchy and unrestrained evil, since there would be no 'eternal punishment' involved...and I'm not sure I'd totally like a world where some folks saw no restraints on their behavior....(though some manage to be pretty obnoxious even WITH religion).

All I really want is a system where "freedom of religion", responsibly practiced is allowed, while "freedom FROM religion" is respected for those who wish it..NO required prayers in school and at meetings, NO laws written which demand that non-religious people obey rules based on religious reasoning.(yes, obviously, abortion is one of the major ones).

If people could simply just "agree to disagree" it might go a long way toward sanity.