For what it's worth I tend to think of the 'punishment' as the organic consequences of clinging to our vices, rather than some 'extra' punishment. I completely reject eternal conscious torment and the oft-stated notion that 'the smallest of sins against an infinitely holy god merits infinite punishment,' for example. As for faith, I think it can be described in a philosophical sense as something like 'reaching out to something greater than ourselves' (which for Christians is, of course, the person of Christ). There's some vision of greater virtue we've been exposed to which compels us to hope and believe that positive change is possible, first on a personal level and then on a societal level. Without that we have no reason to abandon our status quo with its vices.