The driving force should be the betterment of oneself and mankind, to contribute to humanity to leave a better world than the one you came into. God has absolutely nothing to do with this, a fiction invented to make the world bearable as it is and not drive us to make it as it should be. If there is no god then we are truly alone, if we are truly alone then the only way to make things better is through our own devices. I dont believe in God or an afterlife but that still makes human life damn important, you only have one shot at it and everybody in the world deserves to have a decent shot, not something to be pissed away living in squalor or to be taken away by others.
Killing and plundering are bad because the short term monetary gain contributes nothing to the world, it merely destroys and breaks down society. Throughout human history we have progressed, now balance this progression of technology and nature with the single scourge that still exists, which is evil, it exists in all of us, that drive to kill, to plunder and take advantage. I think that that little piece of humanity can be extinguished when humanity can exist in a world where all people live free, where poverty and disease cannot exist, where technology is used for peace and prosperity rather than new ways of maiming eachother.
We possess such power today that humanity can no longer afford to remain divided; religion, nation and race must be abandoned or makind will simply destroy itself some time in the future. It is because of this shared threat that mindless self-interest can never be maintained, given the resources and technology I am quite sure that we can move forward for the better. From warring tribes we became kingdoms, from warring kingdoms nations and from nations I think humanity can become at peace, a true global peace where everyone in the world lives free of opression and ignorance. The obstacles to such a progression are found in the political ideologies of today, the religious superstition that has led to death cults that threaten millions - overcoming these barriers is the hard part and that is what holds back progression.
I am not religious but that does not mess up my moral compass. I think that people deserve to be free, to make their own choices and live their lives the way that they want without unwarrented interference - this must apply to all people with one single and important condition, their actions cannot hurt others or to an extent themselves (I wouldnt say that somebody who is suicidal should be allowed to go out and kill themselves if they can be prevented from doing so, but smoking or drinking that is allright). I feel, I love, I hate - I am a human being, no better or worse than most others. I feel bad about seeing a world full of such violence and hatred it makes me want to scream, I never look away from it and I have not become cold to it, for a little tour of what I think is fucked up about humanity take a look over the 20th Century, War, Genocides, Torture, Racism and Brutality all done on such magnificent scale in the advent of the modern age, technology being put to use albeit bad. What makes me feel good is to go out and look around me, living in a beautiful free country, peaceful and diverse, being able to live my life the way I want to, I feel good when I help out others, to try to make a difference somewhere. I would be absolutely ecstatic if everyone on earth could live like this, but then having to turn my eye back to the real world where a girl just a little bit younger than I is hung for having sex, where women and children are hacked to death with machetes because they are on the wrong side of the government, where dissent is crushed through deadly force and people become slaves to despots - I am of no illusion that liberal democracies are perfect, they are flawed in many ways but they are the best system we have today that can adequately function in the real world, only when we are all able to live our lives with liberty will progression be possible.
In regards to redemption, I would think that making up for what has been done and being granted favour for it is impossible when dealing with the non-descript crimes discussed here.
.. or just trying to chase girls...or comments amounting to sexual molestation.. 
