I never said they weren't. I didn't consider them as being part of the equation, as hitherto, no mention had been made of them, or at least, that I was aware of. And as for criminals, I assumed (wrongly it seems?) that the protection was being afforded to the person being advised of what was inappro...

Hi The NoBSBuddhist That's rather vague....I have obviously misunderstood. as has the person who explained that rule to me in the way I originally misunderstood it! I have seen it described as 'having sex with convicted criminals' elsewhere, and I think, even on the internet, somewhere! Could you b...

Miami

Quite.

I guess. It's one thing that puts me off visiting the USA. You never know WHERE you are with them!

Master (of none).

The Middle Way.

If a product has been GM, it will say so on the packaging, by law. (At least, it is law in the UK.) We tried to pass a law in California in 2012 to label GM food called Prop 37 but it didn't pass. :cry: But apparently Vermont just had a labeling law passed this year, the first state to do so! :wooh...

Aloka wrote: I've been eating Tofu for years (but not every day) with no adverse effects - and never knowingly buy GM products.

me too.

Tofu has received a massive amount of bad press, and has been cited as having harmful effects if eaten in high quantities. Fortunately it's been revealed as mostly hype, generated and funded largely by those industries to which the increased circulation of tofu would be harmful. (Several meat associ...

TheNoBSBuddhist: I think the part about following the law of the land has nothing to do with sexual misconduct in the Buddhist sense. It may be misconduct, but not sexual misconduct. I couldn't agree more. The argument is utterly superfluous, and was not introduced by me, but by martinfrank. I atte...

guts

From Wikipedia: United States - Main article: Interracial marriage in the United States Interracial marriage in the United States has been fully legal in all U.S. states since the 1967 Supreme Court decision that deemed anti-miscegenation laws unconstitutional, with many states choosing to legalize...

I do tend to agree with the general principle that if one is dedicated to following the precepts one would respect the laws of the jurisdiction where one is living. To me, the point of the precepts is to develop blamelessness, and therefore be unagitated, which is a basic requirement for progress o...