Olivia Ray 3/6/14 History 5

The Beliefs of the City of Pines

In an effort to create a successful civilization, the people of The City of Pines have established their own belief system. It shares similar religions and helps the people of The City of Pines. A belief system is important because it explains what is right or wrong for a person to believe or act. Here are some examples: One of the aspects that the City of Pines will be known for is their dauntless personality in making difficult decisions and standing up for their society. To succeed in teaching young Pineians to be brave, each month they must complete a challenging task called Upblating (Up bl A t ing). Upblating is when a student is tested of their bravery by testing if they are courageous enough to stand up for what they believe and face their own fears for others. If young Pineians learn to be brave, they will learn what is right and wrong because they will understand what is important to stand up for. These thoughts will turn into actions if the teachers of the City of Pines teach bravery in speech and saying the right things, and this will create a successful society. Technically, Upblating can be mistaken for a task of selflessness because young Pineians are taught to put others before themselves, but mostly this task is used to teach young citizens to be brave in thought and in actions. Selflessness is just another helpful skill that is picked up in Upblating. Another religions bravery can also be mistaken for selflessness, so therefore Upblating is alike to one of the tests Christians had to face. When Romans caught Christians worshiping their one god instead of the emperor and the Roman gods, the Christians were tortured and killed in front of millions of Roman citizens. If these Christians lied that they didnt believe in God, they would be spared. So, this was a test of their bravery and faith in God. For refusing to honor Roman Gods [by honoring Jesus and God], Christians were sentenced to die in cruel and painful ways (Frey 358). These intimidating tests of faith killed many Christians in front of crowds to teach other people not to follow Christianity, but instead of installing fear in people, so they would stop believing in God and Jesus, more people devoted themselves to the faith. What these Christians did was not only brave, but also selfless because they gave themselves up to God in return for their faithfulness to him. Upblating also teaches

Olivia Ray 3/6/14 History 5 people to be selfless in their actions by teaching them correct morals and righteous answers. For younger people, its hard to correct other citizens of their wrong doing without being called imperious by others, so these tests are created to assure kids its okay to help other people when they do something wrong. This teaches people what the wrong and right actions are because citizens will be helping each other learn the right ways to act. So therefore, when young Pineians are tested of their bravery, they will also be tested in their faith to the City of Pines. The second feature that Pineians will be remembered for is trust. To teach people to trust one another and create unity in the society, every fifth month each young adult must complete Aivilo (ah vE lO) before becoming an adult in the eyes of the society. Aivilo is when two friends, family members or complete strangers must stand on the rocks of Thunder Water (the local waterfall). These two citizens must close their eyes and make sure they dont fall into the waterfalls rocks below. Just in case they fall, there is a dense and soft mattress underneath the water. Aivilo is related to the faith that Christians and Jews put into their god, God. In Aivilo, the people standing above the waterfall must put that much faith into their partner. Aivilo can make the City of Pines successful because it will teach people to trust each other. Learning to trust each person in a society will prevent bad actions because other people will have more empathy with each other and trust in faith that everything will get better. Yet his [Abraham] devotion to God was so great that he brought Isaac [his son] to a mountain to be sacrificed (Frey 105). Abrahams faith was so strong in God; he almost sacrificed his son to God. Abraham believed that even though his son would be dead, everything would be perfectly fine because God would protect Abraham because of his faith. This amount of faith is difficult to come by, but young Pineians will be taught to learn how to become this faithful. Abrahams trust in God will be taught to each student in the society so they can live up to his example and learn to trust each person as though they were a God. If young Pineians complete Aivilo, without falling, then they will trust each other in the civilization.

Olivia Ray 3/6/14 History 5 The third characteristic that Pineians will be known for is their honesty to one another. Pineians must be honest to one another, so that this society can be successful, yet united in thought and in loyalty. To teach honesty, every other month one week is devoted to Hencest (Hen s eh st). Hencest is the action where people are completely honest to one another and when questions are asked of them, they must answer. It is also important for people not to gossip about other peoples confessions they have honestly made in Hencest. Since this happens every other month for a week, people will be accustomed to being honest with each other. This honesty will become a habit and will show others the right way to act. So if people follow this religious weeks purpose, it will create a society that not only trusts others with secrets and personal problems but also each person will be honest with each other. If each person is honest, there will be less crimes and less wrong actions for the law to deal with and stop. People will be able to live in peace because they will believe that their neighbors and fellow citizens will take care of each other and never lie. Hencest is related to another important moral in Buddhism. Following the eightfold path is important to Buddhist and one of the tasks on the eightfold path is Right Speech. Right Speech tells followers of the Buddha to not gossip and to always tell the truth. Be careful and truthful in what you say. Do not lie or gossip (Frey 159). In this religion is important to reach enlightenment or bliss, where there is no suffering. To get there, a person must not lie or gossip about other people and fellow Buddhists. It is also important for Pineians to not gossip or lie about each other also because it creates a unity among people. If Pineians learn to be honest in everything they do, they will create unity among the people as well as trust. If there is trust in this society, good actions will follow. It is important to prevent bad actions and learn good ones to create a society. Pineians will be known for their honesty with one another by completing Hencest every other month. The fourth and final quality the City of Pines will portray is creativity in thought and in life long tasks. To learn about creativity, the entire population must complete Laluna (La oo na). In Laluna, the entire population of the City of Pines must gather at the Pines Theater at the end of the seven day week right before the

Olivia Ray 3/6/14 History 5 sun sets. Laluna can last the entire night or as short as one hour for some citizens. At the theater, or around the theater, Pineians are encouraged to talk with neighbors and fellow citizens about their thoughts of the week and the things they should have done better. These thoughts will be shared with everyone to make the civilization become greater in unique thoughts and diverse actions. Telling everyone what a person has done wrong can teach others what they shouldnt do. If others share their unique ideas, these ideas can be contributed to the laws and teachings in the society. This skillful necessary in the City of Pines relates to a concept used by Muslims called Salat or Daily prayer. In Islam each Muslim must pray at least 5 times a day at dawn, noon, midday, sun set and night fall. The imam begins the prayer cycle by proclaiming Allah Akbar! (God is most great!). The worshipers then recite verses from the Quran [their holy book] and kneel before God (Frey 97). This religious faith not only shows the discipline of religious beliefs, but also their loyalty to God. The concept of praying to Allah, or God, is not exactly the same as the concept of Laluna, but it does relate in a few different ways. First, the entire population of Muslims must meet at a Mosque to pray to God, and in the City of Pines the citizens must meet at the local theater to share their own thoughts. Secondly, these both create a sense of duty and religion discipline. Through Laluna, Pineians will get used to sharing their problems and ideas with other citizens creating unity as well as creativity in their ideas. In Islam religion, Muslims are taught how to worship and why this is important to the society. Learning to pray or learning to share thoughtful ideas not only creates unity, but also teaches what is right and what is the wrong thing to do. Laluna teaches Pineians to respect their elders ideas and learn from others mistakes. In conclusion, Pineians will be known for creativity in what they do and say in the City of Pines.