Secular foundations of ethics, and possible weaknesses

It seems that critics of the secular foundations of ethics need to concede, from the outset, two moral motivations that believers and secularists share, and these were pointed out by Hume: social utility and sympathy.

However, there are situations in which these motives don't seem to work. It is often socially not useful to do what is right. And we tend to sympathize with those most similar to us, but we have obligations to those we can't sympathize with.