Editing Belief (section)

===Adherence===
{{See also|Existence of God}}
Typical reasons for adherence to religion include the following:
* Some see belief in a deity as necessary for [[Morality|moral behavior]].<ref name="moore">Compare: {{cite magazine | date = 2005-03-07 | url = http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2005/110/13.0.html | title = Roy Moore: 'We Have No Morality Without an Acknowledgment of God' | magazine = [[Christianity Today]] | access-date = 2006-05-19 | archive-date = 8 January 2009 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090108205932/http://www.christianitytoday.com./ct/2005/110/13.0.html | url-status = live }}</ref>
* Some regard religious practices as serene, beautiful, and conducive to religious experiences, which in turn support religious beliefs.<ref>{{cite web | last = Miller | first = David Ian | date = 2005-02-15 | url = http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/gate/archive/2005/02/15/findrelig.DTL | title = Finding My Religion: Steve Georgiou on his faith and mentor, minimalist poet Robert Lax | publisher = SFGate | access-date = 2006-05-19 | archive-date = 16 May 2012 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120516095524/http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=%2Fgate%2Farchive%2F2005%2F02%2F15%2Ffindrelig.DTL | url-status = live }}</ref>
* Organized religions promote a [[sense of community]] among their followers, and the moral and cultural common ground of these communities makes them attractive to people with similar [[values]].<ref name="repa">{{cite web | last = Repa | first = J. Theodore | date = 1998-10-18 | url = http://pages.nyu.edu/~jtr1/sermon.htm | title = Building Community: The Marriage of Religion and Education | access-date = 2006-05-19 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060907172411/http://pages.nyu.edu/~jtr1/sermon.htm | archive-date = 7 September 2006 | url-status = dead | df = dmy-all }}</ref> Indeed, while religious beliefs and practices are usually connected, some individuals with substantially secular beliefs still participate in religious practices for cultural reasons.<ref>Note for example the concept of a [[cultural Christian]].</ref>
* Each religion asserts that it is a means by which its adherents may come into closer contact with the Divine, with Truth, and with [[spiritual power]]. They all promise to free adherents from spiritual bondage, and to bring them into spiritual freedom. It naturally follows that a religion which can free its adherents from deception, sin, and spiritual death will have significant mental-health benefits. [[Abraham Maslow]]'s research after [[World War II]] showed that [[the Holocaust|Holocaust]] survivors tended to be those who held strong religious beliefs (not necessarily temple attendance, etc.), suggesting that belief helped people cope in extreme circumstances. [[Humanistic psychology]] went on to investigate how religious or spiritual identity may have correlations with longer lifespan and better health. The study found that humans may particularly need religious ideas to serve various emotional needs such as the need to feel loved, the need to belong to homogeneous groups, the need for understandable explanations and the need for a guarantee of ultimate justice. Other factors may involve sense of [[Motivation|purpose]], sense of [[Identity (social science)|identity]], or a sense of contact with the divine. See also ''[[Man's Search for Meaning]]'', by [[Viktor Frankl]], detailing his experience with the importance of religion in surviving the Holocaust. Critics assert that the very fact that religion was the primary selector for research subjects may have introduced a bias, and that the fact that all subjects were Holocaust survivors may also have had an effect. According to Larson et al. (2000), "[m]ore longitudinal research with better multidimensional measures will help further clarify the roles of these [religious] factors and whether they are beneficial or harmful."<ref name="larson">{{cite journal | last = Larson | first = David B. | author2 = Susan S. Larson | author3 = Harold G. Koenig | date = October 2000 | title = Research Findings on Religious Commitment and Mental Health | journal = Psychiatric Times | volume = 17 | issue = 10 | url = http://www.psychiatrictimes.com/p001078.html | access-date = 2006-05-19 | archive-date = 8 January 2009 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090108120239/http://www.psychiatrictimes.com/p001078.html | url-status = live }}</ref>

Psychologist [[James Alcock]] also summarizes a number of apparent benefits which reinforce religious belief. These include prayer appearing to account for successful resolution of problems, "a bulwark against existential anxiety and fear of annihilation," an increased sense of control, companionship with one's deity, a source of self-significance, and group identity.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Alcock |first1=James |author-link1=James Alcock |title=The God Engine |journal=[[Skeptical Inquirer]] |date=2018 |volume=42 |issue=5 |pages=32–38}}</ref>