2,000 years is the span of Mere Christianity, to paraphrase C S Lewis. Many religions are much, much older.Lacking a replacement organizational structure with instilled values, the non-religious in today's world sometimes flounder, lost without a cause. There are secular cause's that can be undertaken for a fulfilling life, but they are not well known.They have not had 2,000 years to be refined. And without some sanctified authority to tell us what's sanctified, we choose arbitrarily. Human life/love/human flourishing.
It is our own attitude which sanctifies. When we visit old churches, or old abbey ruins there is often a distinct sense of sanctity. Those places are steeped in prayer over centuries, so Of course there is an atmosphere. I know there is such atmosphere and that it isn't the corporate imagination, because there are other ancient places with no atmosphere at all. And I have known some with a very restless and uncomfortable atmosphere.
I don't honestly think we need a 'sanctified authority' to tell us what is holy. I think we know, and I think we know what is unholy although we don't always choose to recognise it. Do you think torturers don't know what they are doing is wrong? They will say they are only doing their jobs and have been given authority by the powers that be.
We do however, need to be organised if we want to live in a civilised world. So, as that man once said, 'Render under Caesar that which is Caesar's, and obey the law. But render under God that which is Holy - and don't obey anybody.
P.S. I just noticed that I typed 'under' rather than 'unto' - but 'under' actually fits better in this instance. Under the heading of Caesar (although we have no Caesars now), and under the heading of 'God' because we don't know what God is, or whether we believe in it, but you know, 'the Goddish....spiritual part of us' just isn't a good heading.