An important ingredient in this nasty little cocktail, however, is various forms of prejudice, inhibition and repression associated with theistic religious fundamentalism. Like all religions, Buddhism takes a strong ethical stand in human affairs and sexual behaviour in particular. These precepts take the form of voluntary, personal undertakings. The precepts express basic principles rather than fixed, legalistic rules that any one action falls inside or outside of. Like any non-fundamentalist ethical system, Buddhism provides us with general guiding principles while in no way relieving us of the obligation to make appropriate moral judgements in each morally significant situation we come across.
Moral judgement is never a question of blindly applying a rule.
The five precepts constitute an integrated set - each precept supports the others. Sexual misconduct', in the spirit of the precepts as a job lot, means any sexual conduct involving violence, manipulation or deceit - conduct that therefore leads to suffering and trouble. By contrast good sexual conduct is based on loving kindness, generosity, honesty, and mental and emotional clarity - conduct that has good results. Buddhism's very tough sexual ethic would be complete without the third precept. It's really there for the sake of emphasis.