I think you are referring to "ideals", which are more widely believed in are called "dogma". If there is a supernatural reference then it is called "religion" instead of "dogma". The latter doesn't have to be religious in nature. For example "democracy" and "marxism" are both dogma, depending on the collective that follows those respective ideals. What is the plural of dogma, anyways??!?!

I think a meme is like a topic of conversation, transient, current, but tending towards generalizations of unrelated subjects. For example, the use of "evolution" to describe changes in non-biological systems might be considered a "meme", even though it only has one legitimate use. A thread on this bbs will often have a topic, but will become a meme as the thread drifts into off-topic subjects while attempting to stay on-topic. Arguments over accuracy or applicability of the meme often result.

Some memes are totally philosophical, invented generalizations that attempt to cover many subjects, but aren't necessarily real. For example, many managers at business meetings attempt to construct an entire business policy on a meme. It's all about showmanship in this case, getting everyone to use the same language, talk the talk, walk the walk. It will include strange word usage, twisted into a pseudological context: like "needs analysis", or "idea processing".....