Believing without belonging is a term used by Davie to describe the fact religion is becoming more privatised, as people have more choice in religious practices that they felt obligated to follow in the past. Many sociologists, such as Davie, argue that religion is not declining; it is just taking an alternate form – such as believing without belonging. Spiritual shopping, a term used by Hervieu-Leger, and ‘Jesus in Disneyland’ are two other ways in which religion is taking on a different relationship within society today. However, other theorists argue that the belief in religion is in fact declining in society, as illustrated by structural differentiation. Weber and disenchantment also support this idea, as well as Functionalists who state that religion involved belonging as well as believing.

Firstly, Davie argues that today’s society is trending toward ‘vicarious religion’, where a small number of professional clergy practice religion on behalf of a much larger number of people, who experience it second hand. Even though church attendance may be declining, religious belief is still strong as many people still use the church for rites of passage (e.g. a wedding or a christening). Bibby found that 25% of Canadians attended church regularly, yet 80% of people said they held religious beliefs. Indicating that less people feel obligated to attend church and obey traditional religious teachings, they are able to still have faith in religion but within their private sphere of the home. Similarly, Davie states that this shows a much wider commitment to religion – such as the wide spread church attendance and praying following Princess Diana’s death. However, Bruce criticises Davies view. He states that if people are not willing to invest time in going to church, it reflects the declining strength of their beliefs – leading to the diminishing of religion as people