(Opinion) Familiar Strangers: Mosaic Hollywood and the Salem Within Us - Study of Institutional Otherness
written by a member of the WCB
This paper examines the complex psychological and sociological dynamics experienced when individuals encounter religious institutional settings markedly different from their formative spiritual environments. Through the analytical framework of cognitive dissonance theory and social identity formation, we explore how unfamiliar worship practices and community norms can trigger primordial responses reminiscent of historical othering. While contemporary diverse congregations like Mosaic Hollywood represent intentional efforts toward inclusion, the internal discomfort experienced by visitors from homogeneous backgrounds reveals deeper insights about institutional belonging, cultural frameworks, and the psychological phenomenon of perceived displacement.
Stranger in a Strange Land
When an individual raised within traditional homogeneous religious settings enters a space like Mosaic Hollywood—a church known for its contemporary approach, diverse congregation, and artistic expression—the resulting experience offers a profound window into institutional dynamics that shape human perception and belonging. The initial discomfort often experienced reveals less about the visited institution than about the psychological frameworks the visitor carries within.
As sociologist Pierre Bourdieu might observe, such encounters expose the embodied “habitus” that individuals develop through their formative experiences—the internalized schemas that make certain environments feel natural while others produce immediate dissonance. This paper explores this phenomenon through the lens of both empirical observation and theoretical frameworks concerning institutional behavior.
Historical Echoes and Contemporary Spaces
The human tendency to experience discomfort in unfamiliar cultural settings has deep historical roots. When early Puritan settlers established the Massachusetts Bay Colony, leading eventually to the Salem witch trials, they operated from a place of profound existential anxiety about the “other.” Their fear manifested in the persecution of those perceived as different or dangerous to established social order.
Contemporary diverse religious spaces like Mosaic Hollywood represent, in many ways, the institutional antithesis of Salem’s homogeneity. Founded by Erwin McManus, Mosaic deliberately cultivates an environment where diversity is celebrated rather than suppressed. Yet paradoxically, for visitors from highly traditional religious backgrounds, the very openness and difference can trigger internal responses that mirror historical patterns of othering.
Neurological Experience of Institutional Dissonance
The psychological research of Jonathan Haidt on moral foundations theory provides insight into why traditionalists may experience visceral discomfort in progressive religious settings. Haidt’s work suggests that conservatives and progressives weight different moral foundations differently, with conservatives placing higher emphasis on loyalty, authority, and sanctity, while progressives prioritize care and fairness.
When a visitor from a traditional environment enters Mosaic’s space—with its artistic presentations, diverse expressions of worship, and multicultural congregation—the neurological experience can include:
Amygdala activation - Research indicates that conservative brains show greater amygdala response to novel or potentially threatening stimuli.
Olfactory processing - Unfamiliar sensory experiences, including scents like burning bush commonly used in contemporary worship settings, can trigger profound memory associations and emotional responses.
Visual processing overload - The sight of diverse congregants expressing worship in unfamiliar ways may challenge existing mental models of “appropriate” religious behavior.
These neurological responses occur below the threshold of conscious thought, creating a physical sensation of discomfort before rational analysis begins.
Salem as Metaphor: Psychology of Othering
The psychological phenomenon experienced by traditional visitors to diverse spaces often parallels the underlying dynamics of historical Salem. In both contexts, we observe:
Cognitive frameworks challenged - When established worldviews encounter practices outside normative understanding, humans experience cognitive dissonance.
Fear response to the unfamiliar - The amygdala can trigger fight-or-flight responses when processing unfamiliar social cues or behaviors.
Attribution errors - The tendency to misattribute negative motives to unfamiliar behaviors rather than recognizing cultural differences.
The visitor’s internal experience—feeling metaphorically transported to “Salem”—represents not a rational assessment of the contemporary church but rather the activation of deeply ingrained historical patterns of processing difference.
Institutional Architecture and Belonging
Religious spaces communicate belonging through both explicit and implicit means. Traditional churches often signal belonging through uniformity in dress, behavior, and expression. Congregations like Mosaic Hollywood intentionally disrupt these patterns by creating environments where diversity in expression is normalized.
For visitors accustomed to homogeneity as a marker of spiritual authenticity, the very institutional architecture of diverse spaces can communicate unintended messages:
Visual diversity as spiritual disorder - When uniformity has been equated with righteousness, diversity may be unconsciously processed as spiritual chaos.
Sensory overload as spiritual discomfort - Unfamiliar music, lighting, scents, and expressions can overwhelm sensory processing systems.
Social uncertainty - Without clear behavioral norms to follow, visitors experience heightened social anxiety about “proper” participation.
Beyond Binary Thinking: Path Forward
The experience of cultural dissonance in unfamiliar religious settings offers opportunity for profound growth rather than mere reinforcement of divisions. When individuals recognize their visceral responses as products of socialization rather than objective reality, the potential for meaningful dialogue emerges.
Institutions seeking to bridge divides might consider:
Acknowledgment of discomfort - Creating space for visitors to name and process their discomfort without judgment.
Cultural translation - Providing contextual frameworks that help visitors understand unfamiliar practices within their theological and cultural contexts.
Graduated exposure - Facilitating incremental experiences that allow for adaptation to different worship expressions.
Reciprocal visitation - Encouraging meaningful exchange through mutual visitation between different religious communities.
Salem Within
The metaphorical invocation of Salem when experiencing diverse religious spaces reveals a profound truth: the historical patterns of othering remain active within our collective and individual consciousness. When we experience visceral discomfort in the presence of difference, we glimpse the psychological mechanisms that once fueled historical persecution.
Yet unlike our predecessors, we possess the frameworks to understand these responses as products of socialization rather than divine mandate. The path forward lies not in retreating to homogeneous comfort but in developing the capacity to recognize our discomfort as an opportunity for growth rather than a signal of threat.
As religious institutions continue to evolve in an increasingly pluralistic society, the capacity to navigate difference with compassion rather than fear becomes not merely a social skill but a spiritual discipline. Perhaps the most important institutional dynamic illuminated by these encounters is the potential for transformation—not despite our discomfort, but through it.