hould churches which offer counseling, therapy and other services be libel when a position of trust is abused?

   A religious coalition in Colorado is again demanding that state lawmakers enact legislation which would provide faith-based groups with a special legal shield, immunizing them from legal claims of wrong doing. According to the Denver Post, insurance companies are also supporting the proposal, which could prevent victims of sexual or other abuse from using the state's "Fiduciary law" to extract trial awards from churches.

   The move threatens to overturn two centuries of common law, though, says Jennifer Brandeberry of the Trial Lawyers Association of Colorado. "What this bill says is that people who have given their trust to a person in power have no recourse if they violate the trust."

   The move is in response to a sharp rise in litigation involving claims of sexual abuse from priests, ministers and other religious. Some say it began with the case of a woman who went to her Denver Episcopal church in 1984 to seek counseling about her infant daughter. The Post notes that the "hug" received from the male minister after each counseling session escalated to fondling, and then to oral sex. The offending minister was found out, and promoted to a new post as rector at a parish in Colorado Springs, and ordered to get counseling.

   That was one reason why the woman was awarded more than $700,000 in damages when she took the Episcopal Diocese to court.

   The Christian Science Monitor newspaper adds that churches have often been shielded by the legal principle of "charitable immunity." Starting in the 1980s, though, a slew of legal actions over everything from brainwashing and wrongful death to sexual abuse have dragged churches and other religious institutions into court. A Notre Dame University law professor compared it to "throwing a match to dry timber," and says that prior to the 1980s, such cases were "unheard of."

   Churches in Colorado have banded together to form the Colorado Religious Coalition. The group says that punitive damage awards, often in the millions of dollars, threaten to bankrupt religious groups. State Sen. John Evans (R) agrees, and last April sponsored legislation that would have shielded churches from legal actions under the fiduciary-duty law.

   "When these claims are made, whether they are true or not, it's like a cluster bomb that devastates the organization," Evans told the Monitor. "Anyone who deals with the public is impacted by this law -- including schools and hospitals and counselors."

   Critics say that providing a special legal exemption for churches gives the appearance that sexual or other misconduct should go unpunished when it is committed by those operating under the mantle of faith. One is Sen. Mary Ann Tebedo, who was the swing vote in defeating an immunity proposal offered in the last legislative session by Evans. Tebedo says that she will challenge any move to provide special protection to the churches.

   Another critic is Bob Schuetze, the new president of the Colorado Trial Lawyers Association. He says that those offering counseling on behalf of a church are legally no different from those working in any other type of corporation or group. "When people are working for a company, and they're within the scope of their employment, the employer is responsible." Schuetze warned that provided exemptions for churches, even under specific circumstances, would set bad policy. "You limit people's rights for protection and justice," he said. "What I'm concerned about is that if we pass a law to help a few churches, we're going to create all kinds of problems for legitimate causes and cases."

   A lobbyist for the Roman Catholic Church in Colorado told the Denver Post that the shield legislation would be the "top priority" for the next legislative session. Even supporters like Sen. Evans, though, worry that the bill may have to undergo serious alteration if it is to pass. "We need to look at all the parties and structure something that is fair to everyone." Indeed, a carbon copy of last year's proposal could result in a replay on the Senate floor, where critics unveiled what the Post described as "a Pandora's box of horrifying images -- children molested by priests, families battered emotionally by churches that abandoned them in their moment of need." There was also Sen. Tebedo's declaration that she was "not happy with priests sodomizing little boys."

   If the churches follow through with plans to seek special immunity legislation in Colorado and elsewhere, they risk not only charges of privileged treatment, but an airing of scandal, hushed-up allegations and other true horror stories they may regret.

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