All civilizations need some kind of belief system, even if its not a religion, to survive and even thrive.

Every civilization that has ever existed has had a belief system because it keeps people in check and allows them to live without too many rules. If a civilization ran without a belief system, people would be running around burning things and stabbing people. Everything would be in chaos and the civilization would fall apart the same year it started. A belief system could be anything from a few moral values to an entire, full-blown religion. All civilizations have a different idea of what are good and bad, but those ideas bring civilizations closer together. In order to further understand the importance of a belief system on society, and their influence on their followers, acknowledge the moral dilemma below: Roger Smith, a skillful swimmer, is out for a leisurely stroll. During the course of his walk he passes by a deserted pier from which a teenage boy who apparently cannot swim has fallen into the water. The boy is screaming desperately for help. Smith recognizes that there is absolutely no danger to himself if he jumps in to save the boy; he could easily succeed if he tried. Nevertheless, he chooses to ignore the boy's cries. "Why should I inconvenience myself for this kid," Smith says to himself, and passes on. If Roger Smith were a Hindu, it would be his civil duty to save the drowning boy. He would be thinking about what his Dharma, or his duty was and what it would do to his Karma, the total of good and bad he did in his life, if he didnt save a young, helpless boy. If Dharma were a persons civic duty, then it would be every persons duty to save the life of anyone in need, especially if it was a teenage boy who still has a life ahead of him. When a person breaks his dharma, their karma, the deciding factor of what they will be reincarnated as will become worse and worse until they will be reincarnated as something horrible, like a rat or a cockroach. If they are a good person, They might be born into a higher class in their next life (Frey 149). If Roger Smith wanted to be reborn as something good, he would feel inclined to save the young boy that is in need. The Hindu religion drives all people that follow it to do the morally right thing, so Roger would have to save the boy. If Roger Smith followed Confucianism and he was put into the position that he is in in the story above, he would feel compelled to save the boy. He would be thinking about the, five basic relationships: ruler and subject, husband and wife, father and son, older sibling and younger sibling, and friend and friend, especially the relationships to his family, like father and son and older sibling and younger sibling (Frey 208). He would think of what this boys parents and siblings might feel if he allowed him to drown. He would also be thinking about one of the main values of Confucianism, respect your elders. If he didnt save the boy, people would not respect him as a man. Younger people have to respect their elders only as long as they are setting good examples for all the people that are younger than them. Roger Smith would feel the obligation to save the boy if he followed Confucianism and wanted to follow all of the values and relations. If Roger Smith were a Buddhist then he would save the young boy. He would save the boy because it would be his moral obligation. He would be thinking about the Eightfold Path and the Four Noble Truths. All Buddhists follow the Eightfold Path to achieve enlightenment and follow the middle path. Buddha believed that

people should try to find the middle path, he taught, people should travel the Eightfold Path, (Frey 159). Roger Smith would follow the Eightfold Path because it states that, to achieve enlightenment, you have to have the right action; do not lie, steal, or kill. Be honest. And have the right effort; promote good actions and prevent evil actions. He would have to save the boy if he wanted to follow the Eightfold Path because not saving the boy would be counted as killing. If he were a Buddhist, he would have to promote good actions by saving the boy and prevent evil actions by not leaving the boy drowning in the water. A civilization must have moral values and a belief system because it helps people to develop moral values. If people have a religion to follow with moral values and rules, like Buddhism or Hinduism, then they will do their best to try and do the right thing, which help civilizations function better and more efficiently. As you can see in the moral dilemma, Roger Smith did not do the right thing without a belief system, but when I put him into three different religions, he did the right thing every time. Most people, without a belief system, would never do the right thing, so I believe that civilizations need a belief system to survive and thrive.