"My assertion is that, without free will, everything is meaningless. And, if everything is meaningless, why bother with anything[...]

Without free will everything would be meaningless to us, but I'm not sure that would have a significant impact on life in it's entirety. Therefore, life might, as a matter of it being the only thing that works, require us to evolve into thinking we have free will, without ever really being in the driver's seat, so to speak. Looking at faithful fanatics we can see that once our minds decide something we're capable of closing our eyes to everything that doesn't align with what we want to believe. I don't see any reason why this can't happen on a subconscious level without us even being aware that we're choosing an illusion.

Regarding fence-sitting... I wouldn't say it's desirable so much as necessary for me, personally, to get a more comprehensive view of as many sides as possible, but I don't feel caught in the middle. I feel like I have options. :)

I can wake up tomorrow a slave to a tyrannical god or a god in my own right. Or neither at all. Who knows how it all really works?