by the "Ten Commandments" studio for promotion of the movie.. Not many people had TV, and what better way to drum up an audience for their new movie than to travel the cvountryside, setting up "Ten Commandments" all over the place and having little rallies...
Over time, the people just kind of "forgot" where those things even came from, and like "The Gods Must Be Crazy." they just accepted these things as a "gift from God"..
These are the same people who now rail against Hollywood :rofl:
LINK TO ONE ARTICLE HERE:
http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3944/is_200107/ai_n8999836Church & State, Jul/Aug 2001 by Boston, Rob
How A Publicity Stunt By Hollywood Producer Cecil B. DeMille Wound Up At The Supreme Court -And What Happened When It Did
SNIP....
A few years ago, a handful of Religious Right organizations announced campaigns to get the Ten Commandments posted in government buildings and public schools all over the United States. The Supreme Court's decision not to hear the City of Elkhart v. Books case should help bring those efforts to a halt.
But it won't happen without a fight. Religious Right organizations were infuriated when the high court took a pass on the Indiana case and have vowed to find other ways to bring the matter before the justices. And they may have the chance - at least 12 cases dealing with Ten Commandments displays are pending in seven states. (See "Commandments Controversies," page 13.)
Meanwhile, in Elkhart, city officials are toying with open defiance.
Ironically, the monument that has sparked so much fuss was until a few years ago covered with weeds and vines. Many town residents didn't even know it was there until a groundskeeper cleaned it off one day in 1998.The monument had found a home in front of the Elkhart City Hall four decades earlier as a tie-in for a promotional campaign for a movie - Hollywood producer Cecil B. DeMille's biblical extravaganza "The Ten Commandments."
DeMille's involvement grew out of a nationwide campaign first launched in 1943 by E.J. Ruegemer, a Minnesota juvenile court judge and head of a Fraternal Order of Eagles (FOE) committee dealing with the problems of youth. Ruegemer claimed that many of the young people who ended up in his courtroom lacked a moral foundation, and he proposed posting paper copies of the Ten Commandments in juvenile courts to rectify that. DeMille got wind of Ruegemer's project as he was working on his epic film, which starred Charlton Heston as Moses. DeMille, eager to drum up publicity for the 1956 movie, proposed displaying bronze tablets instead of paper copies, but Ruegemer felt that granite markers would be more appropriate, arguing that the original Ten Commandments were probably made of stone. DeMille agreed and authorized Ruegemer to contract with a Minnesota granite firm to begin production. Eagles units soon began donating them to cities around the country.
DeMille carefully exploited the situation to ensure maximum publicity for his movie, and some of the monument dedications were even timed to tie in with the release of the film. In one town, Dunseith, N.D., actor Heston appeared personally for the ceremony. In Milwaukee, a Ten Commandments monument was unveiled the same week the film debuted, with actor Yul Brynner - Pharaoh in the movie - on hand for the festivities.
Ruegemer, 98 and still living in Minnesota, told the South Bend Tribune in May that the Eagles were at first wary of taking on the project, fearing that it might be perceived as sectarian. To get around that, organizational leaders asked Catholic, Protestant and Jewish representatives to come together and decide on how to word and list the commandments in a way that was agreeable to all. (Roman Catholics, Protestants and Jews use different versions of the Ten Commandments. For example, in the Catholic version, the fourth commandment is "Honor your mother and father." In the Protestant and Jewish versions, it is "Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy.")
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