Abraham grew up in Ur Kasdim, the cultural center of Babylonian civilization whose people had built the Tower of Babel. He turns his back on this culture to begin a new existence and provide an alternative to the norms of this society.
Abraham is first mentioned in the Tanakh in Genesis, chapter 11 as he is about to set off to Canaan with his family. We are not given any biographical information about his life until this point, but we do know about the culture he is leaving.
The Torah does not explicitly state the sin involved in building the Tower of Babel, but the Sages make several suggestions. One opinion suggests that they rebelled against Hashem by saying "Let us go up and wage war." (Sanhedrin 109). The Yalkut Shimoni (58) suggests that they tried to solve moral problems using technology. "This sky falls every... years – let's prop it up with a support system." Pirkei D'Rabbi Eliezer (24) sees their sin as indifference to their fellow-man. "If someone fell to his death, they wouldn't take any notice but, if a brick fell, they would become distraught and wonder how they could replace it."
A society whose common goal is to rebel against Hashem, who tries to sweep its moral problems under the rug and thinks that technology can solve them or who shows no compassion for others has no moral basis for existence and is better dismantled. Abraham leaves all this behind him and sets off to build a new society which lives according to Hashem's ways. He will accept Hashem's commandment even when he doesn't understand it - "Bring him up as a burnt-offering" (22:2). Abraham will tackle the moral issue of Reward and Punishment – "Will the Judge of the entire earth not perform justice?" (18:25). He will show consideration to others "He saw and he ran toward them." (18:2)
Abraham's response to the culture that led to the Tower of Babel was to choose Hashem and follow in His ways: "For I have known him because he commands his sons and his household after him, that they should keep the way of the Lord to perform righteousness and justice." (18:19)