...if you're curious, Leo Booth has a superb book entitled When God Becomes a Drug---it examines how many of us are led into using spirituality as an addiction. Hope has been reading it and got a lot out of it. It is an especially valuable book for people who have been wounded by unhealthy interpretations of Christianity.
Two rules of thumb: look for a church or tradition that balances wisdom with compassion--or in Pauline terms, agape with discernment/prudence. Two, avoid any place that seems more interested in the Devil than in God/Christ and love for strangers and neighbors.
Its not for nothing that Martin Luther said that before anyone is ready to read Scripture, he or she first has to pray for the grace of a clean heart. I would add that we have to make sure we are sane and determined to love our families, friends, neighbors and strangers. Otherwise it is so easy to project our own pre-existing craziness onto Scripture--no matter whether that Scripture is Christian, Buddhist, Islamic, Hindu or any of the New Age writings.
There's a wonderful collection of articles by Arthur Deikman on [
www.deikman.com] If you go to the section on 'cults' and then select 'Evaluating Spiritual and Utopian Groups' that will give you one of the best, most common sense discussions Ive ever found on the subject.
I constantly recommend that article to people--especially folks who are starting out on a spiritual search.