The fear-belief model.

Hell, bad karma, reincarnation as an undesirable specie,.....repercussions. Every belief system has it. Is a punishment mechanism an essential ingredient of the belief recipe, without which there will be no faith?

It can be argued that the answer to the question is 'yes.' This answer can be supported by examining the age old advice, "spare the rod, spoil the child." The advice is not to be taken literally. If applied correctly, the rod will be spared and the child won't be spoiled. Also notice, that the advice is not, "save the candies, spoil the child." The main idea behind the advice is to introduce fear to make the child a believer of good behavior, work ethics, manners, etc. Fear does appear to have a relationship with belief. Greater the fear, easier it is to make a believer.