http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&node=&contentId=A2453-2003Aug29¬Found=truesnip
On August 30, 2003 The Washington Post ran an opinion piece saying that "the movement to put the Ten Commandments into the public square is more active now than at any time since Cecil B. DeMille gave away 4,000 granite tablets as a promotion for the Charlton Heston movie" However, the ten commandments tablets in Alabama are clearly sectarian..." We've had bitter fights over when the state is endorsing religion... But these days we Americans look at ourselves in the global light of places such as Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan. Our breed of democracy does more than let the majority rule. It also protects the minority -- the Zoroastrian, Zen Buddhist, Hindu, atheist, Muslim -- and lets us live together.
The Ten Commandments is a crowd-pleasing cause. A huge majority of Americans regard these words as a map for a good life, though an equally large majority has trouble reciting them. In this Disney culture, it's entirely possible more people can name the seven dwarfs -- including Doc -- than the Ten Commandments.
Americans seem to want the Commandments displayed even if they don't want them all enforced. When was the last time we arrested people at the local mall for dishonoring the Sabbath? When was adultery last a felony?
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more at these links:
USATODAY.com - Thousands drawn to Ala. standoff... DeMille asked him to post more permanent displays — bronze plaques instead of paper — and not just in schools and courthouses, but in other public places. ...
www.usatoday.com/news/nation/ 2003-08-24-monument-usat_x.htm - 57k - Cached - Similar pages
Syracuse University Faculty Voices... the 1950s, when the Fraternal Order of Eagles, a nationwide service club, began donating them to courthouses across the country. Cecil B. DeMille, whose movie ...
sunews.syr.edu/FacultyVoices/FV66_Watts.htm - 9k - Feb 26, 2005 - Cached - Similar pages
washingtonpost.com: A New Judgment Day For Decalogue Displays... of Cecil B. DeMille's 1956 film "The Ten Commandments." DeMille helped the ... The Ten Commandments displays in the Kentucky courthouses were framed, printed pages ...
www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/ wp-dyn/A55480-2004Oct22?language=printer - Similar pages
The Ten Commandments News... Up of DeMille Narrated by Kenneth Branagh, the program follows DeMille's career as ... religious' The Ten Commandments displayed in two Kentucky courthouses and in ...
www.topix.net/movies/the-ten-commandments - 27k - Cached - Similar pages
Insight on the News: Tables turning: courts disagree on the ...... In 1956, DeMille remade his 1920s classic, The Ten Commandments ... with the Commandments were cropping up in parks, state-capital lawns and courthouses around the ...
www.findarticles.com/p/articles/ mi_m1571/is_23_18/ai_87917227 - 20k - Cached - Similar pages
MPR: The Ten Commandments: Religious or historical symbol?... DeMille's goal - to plug a new film. A deal was made. ... Many monuments went up in public places like parks, city halls, and courthouses. ...
news.minnesota.publicradio.org/ features/200109/10_schmitzr_laxten-m/ - 38k - Cached - Similar pages