Does anybody out there know of anyone who has had a bad experience with the church of Religious Science?

I attended a small church of Religious Science (Science of Mind) on and off for a couple of years. One of the things I was looking for in attending was a sense of community, and I never really felt like I could connect to any of the people in the group. It was also very one-sided emotionally in that only positive thinking/feeling was acceptable. Even though no one was mean about it, negative emotions were ignored/discounted. Also, there was a big emphasis on volunteering and the fact that there never seemed to be enough volunteers, so some guilt was instilled. I did not feel like it was a very controlling group, but as I am becoming more skeptical about what I accept as true, I can see that this system's belief in "mental healing" of physical disease can do a disservice to people who need medical treatment and can also create guilt in someone who is unable to heal their condition mentally.

Before I came to the above conclusions, I also spent some time attending Unity and experienced much of the same situation. I realize that some of my issues are responsible for my experience in both groups, but in looking back on my involvement, I believe that this experience did not help me to grow. Rather, it reinforced my tendency towards magical thinking (i.e., your mind can cure all your illnesses) and unhealthy relationships with others.

Hope this helps.

P