<P> In 1940, the Supreme Court, in Minersville School District v. Gobitis, ruled that students in public schools, including the respondents in that case--Jehovah's Witnesses who considered the flag salute to be idolatry--could be compelled to swear the Pledge . In 1943, in West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette, the Supreme Court reversed its decision . Justice Robert H. Jackson, writing for the 6 to 3 majority, went beyond simply ruling in the precise matter presented by the case to say that public school students are not required to say the Pledge on narrow grounds, and asserted that such ideological dogmata are antithetical to the principles of the country, concluding with: </P> <P> If there is any fixed star in our constitutional constellation, it is that no official, high or petty, can prescribe what shall be orthodox in politics, nationalism, religion, or other matters of opinion or force citizens to confess by word or act their faith therein . If there are any circumstances which permit an exception, they do not now occur to us . </P> <P> In a later case, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals held that students are also not required to stand for the Pledge . </P> <P> Requiring or promoting of the Pledge on the part of the government has continued to draw criticism and legal challenges on several grounds . </P>

Why were the words under god included in the pledge of allegiance