Things like "fulfillment" and "meaning" are emotionally charged nonsense. We seek self-esteem and pleasure. The trick is to derive those things from participating in plus-sum social activities, like rearing children to become adults who perpetuate our values, or being a good citizen, or rendering public service, or giving to charity, or, or, or. How we come to value good works is a complex thing, and we are free to say that our lives "have meaning" or are "fulfilling" if we end the day with self-esteem. But that's just wordplay. The real question is simple: "Do I approve of how I have behaved?"

Religious people and atheists are equally capable of answering that question. It's just that the analysis is easier for religious people, because they have more markers. It's like bowling. There are spots on the alley that good bowlers use as targets. If they roll the ball over those spots, the pins will fall. Religious people aim at spots; atheists aim at the pins. Atheists say that the religious spots aren't well-placed, and religious people say that hitting the pins without using the spots is too difficult. And so they kill each other. What a piece of work is man...