People who believe in a guiding hand and a common purpose, outside of normal existence, can't be described as atheist.

Wal, mebbe not. A-theism, by definition, is a conviction of the absence of (a) god. But it is perfectly possible to believe in other kinds of "guiding" influence(s) and spiritual purposes outside of normal existence, without having to invoke some singular entity as the repository of those things.

Some folks, for example, believe that individual spirituality is the core nature of being, and that the combined (and sometimes confused) sum of all those many points of being adds up to the common hologram we choose to consider our mortal plane.

Others believe in cosmic principles which cause recurring patterns of balance to come about in the universe, but do not bother to personalize them into an identity such as the one often ascribed to this "God" fellow.

In any case it is disingenuous to say that "religion" has fallen just because of a shift in favorite kinds.