> If there is a "god", we are still nothing special, just more stardust...

How did you arrive at that conclusion? With or without a god, and barring any new evidence, sentient life seems to stand out as mind-blowing special and amazing.

> looking at the sheer size of the universe, supposing that we have any special place in it is sheerest hubris.

I don’t think it logically follows that our physical size relative to the size of the universe can tell us anything meaningful at all.