I have observed with keen interest that most religious men keep long beards, and this cut across various religion e.g, In Islam, most Imams keep long beards.
In Christian religion, Jesus was depicted as having long beards as well as his disciples.
In Judaism, the Rabbai or synagogue priest wear long beards.
Also, in Hindu religion, most of the Gurus keep long beards.
Even in African traditional religion, the priests also tend to keep long beards. Is it that man's relationship with God is partly a function of the length of his beards?