On July 4, America will celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, a document that throws off the yoke of a divinely appointed ruler. But President Donald Trump is exploiting this occasion to promote a revisionist history of America as “one nation under God.”

These words, importantly, appear nowhere in the declaration. It wasn’t until 1954, during the height of the Cold War, that the words “under God” were added to the Pledge of Allegiance after heavy lobbying of Congress by religious groups and clergy. Similarly, “In God We Trust” was adopted as the nation’s motto in 1956.

Those who insist America is “one nation under God” or even a “Christian nation” look to the Declaration of Independence as proof. Presumably, this is because it contains four passing references to deity: “Nature’s God,” “Creator,” “Providence” and “Supreme Judge of the world.”

Thomas Jefferson’s original draft of this document, archived at the Library of Congress, has only one deistic reference, to “the........

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