[lentulusgracchus]

....(for example, try and guess how much bad karma the US is racking up according to many Buddhists due to abortion)....

Look at that! This is rare -- a complete surprise!

Nobody has ever so much as whispered that thought to me -- nobody. And I play poker with a Buddhist once a month or so.....but he's pretty low-key about his beliefs.

Very interesting, and something to think about. Thanks for mentioning it. It had never occurred to me even to wonder about that.

[Angelus Errare]

Well I'm not certain whether or not your poker buddy is going to share that opinion, but if you go to any number of English language Buddhist websites that are frequented by people who aren't basically "cafeteria Buddhists" as well as reading the statements of people like the Dalai Lama and others (remember, communist China, which robbed the Tibetans of their homeland and has been utterly merciless in trying to eradicate their religion, also promotes a rigorous abortion policy) you'll see that a lot of the differences between Eastern and Western religions lie in the area of theology as far as what we believe about God, not what He commands us to do. There are a number of differences, but opposition to abortion, homosexuality, and euthanasia are not one of them.