Like everything else, groups have pros and cons.
Sangha, Ashrams, Covens, Bushmen circles - the concept of spiritual groups and the efficacy of groupthink is as old as time itself. Spiritual upliftment is both personal and communal, as no one is insulated from the interaction between the microcosm and the macrocosm. A true spiritual aspirant does not differentiate between the inside and the outside as work happens in both places. Statements such as these seem to stem out of ignorance of time tested traditions of spiritual circles of the Solomonic schools, the rapidly effective Bhairavi Chakra of Tantra and various such techniques involving a community.
The need and usefulness of a supporting community is emphasized for spiritual aspirants by different spiritual cultures. Like any tool, it can heal or cut, the blame or virtue lies not with the tool, but the user.
We all need to think for ourselves, not blindly buy into what Shiva, or Vishnu or Zeus or someone else says… It is just an opinion, not the commandment of truth or even universally relevant.
For those that can see and sense energy - observe, sense the energy of the person making the statement, sense the abundance or absence of equanimity and neutrality behind the person making these statements. That is the biggest clue that our higher self can provide.