"Knowing there is a world that will outlive you, there are people whose well-being depends on how you live your life, affects the way you live your life, whether or not you directly experience those effects. You want to be the kind of person who has the larger view, who takes other people’s interests into account, who’s dedicated to the principles that you can justify, like justice, knowledge, truth, beauty and morality." – Steven Pinker
Almost sounds like he's preaching.
Probably because were used to exhortation to good works being the sole province of god-botherers. That doesn't mean it's illegitimate. There are harms and benefits, and actions can and should be judged in the light of those harms and benefits, without being controlling and judgmental or lacking respect for others or a basically optimistic view of human potential or the possibility of rehabilitation.
Some things promote a sustainable civil society where people can pursue happiness on a reasonably level playing field; others don't. Some things most of us can agree are "wrong" without appealing to a theological construct like "sin". We can just look at the [un]happiness or physical / mental [un]healthiness or prosperity or penury that result from certain actions over time and identify unambiguous "wrongs" that we can agree to sanction or otherwise discourage, and unambiguous "rights" that we can agree to reward or otherwise encourage.