“oomis, wearing pants is being lax in areas of halacha! “
You are right – in THAT specific area of halacha, but it has no bearing on their observance of kashrus, shmiras shabbos, mikvah attendance, etc. That’s all I was saying. And please believe me, I was not saying anything to be mean-spirited to you in any way chas v’sholom. I hope I am making that clear. I know that it is hard to guage what someone’s intent is on a message board. My hashkafa is to try and not be judgmental (I guess we all are, at times), and to hear what another person is saying, even when I strongly disagree. I am also very makpid on not making generalizations, based on ym personal hashkafa, because there are so many valid ways of looking at the same halacha, unless it is a black and white issue. Minhag Hamakom usually still requires that we not transgress halacha l’maiseh, but it leaves room for leniency in some of the “grayer” areas.