Buddhist ethics however are based on the natural law of cause and effect. I’m sure Andrew is aware of this fact but, perhaps others are not.

The law of cause and effect or karma is a natural law, not something that the Buddha made up. It is simply this. For every action there is an effect. The effect is of a similar type to the cause. Given this fact this means that the mental factor of intent plays a very important role in determining whether an action is positive or negative. For that reason Buddhist vows/rules are not hard and fast rules that must be obeyed or something bad will happen.
For instance it is possible to speak a non-truth that will not create a negative result. The classic example goes along the lines of…say someone came to your house and asked where your family are. Seeing that this person has a gun and knowing that he will probably kill your family, telling him that they are in the lounge room is just silly! A smart course of action would be to tell him they are somewhere else and then go and call the police. Is this a lie? Technically no, as it is not negative action but, it is a non-truth.

just my 2 cents

Wise men don’t judge: they seek to understand. – Fingers Pointing Toward the Moon by Wei Wu Wei

1. Do not do anything to harm yourself and
2. Do not do anything that will harm others.

All the precepts and sutta actually revolves or expanded from these 2 simple steps.

Even steps as simple as creating a blog, naming it, and thinking of things to put on it already puts a slant on what is true. Everyone has an agenda. We can only do what we feel is best to remain true…

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Those who talk don’t know. Those who know don’t talk.

-from the Tao Te Ching