The Nonsectarian Ten Commandments

There are current court cases about displaying the Ten Commandments in the public school, and it might seem obvious that this promotes an establishment of religion, in violation of the First Amendment.

Actually, the Catholics, Protestants, and Jews all have different versions of the 10C, and the schools use a version specifically formulated to be nonsectarian, as explained here:

Shortly after the Second World War, a Minnesota judge named E. J. Ruegemer became concerned with what he perceived to be the rise of juvenile delinquency. He believed that “if troubled youths were exposed to one of mankind’s earliest and long-lasting codes of conduct, those youths might be less inclined to break the law.” He formed a committee “consisting of fellow judges, lawyers, various city officials, and clergy of several faiths” to develop a “version of the Ten Commandments which was not identifiable to any particular religious group.”

Judge Ruegemer eventually partnered with Cecil B. DeMille and the Fraternal Order of Eagles to help place monuments inscribed with the Ten Commandments throughout the United States. When they were first erected in the mid-1950s, Protestants and Jews immediately pointed out that the numbering system was inconsistent with that used by their traditions.

DeMille went on to make the movie, The Ten Commandments (1956 film), and the monuments were used to promote the movie.