We didn't leave the Episcopal Church; rather, it left us
By John Yates and Os Guinness

WASHINGTON - When even former President Ford's funeral at Washington National Cathedral is not exempt from comment about the crisis in the Episcopal Church, we believe it is time to set the record straight as to why our church and so many others around the country have severed ties with the Episcopal Church. Fundamental to a liberal view of freedom is the right of a person or group to define themselves, to speak for themselves and to not be dehumanized by the definitions and distortions of others. This right we request even of those who differ from us.

The core issue in why we left is not women's leadership. It is not ``Episcopalians against equality,'' as the headline on a recent Washington Post opinion piece by Harold Meyerson put it. It is not a ``leftward'' drift in the church. It is not even primarily ethical -- though the ordination of a practicing homosexual as bishop was the flash point that showed how far the repudiation of Christian orthodoxy had gone. the rest