Yes, their supposed opinions on today’s issues are about as relevant as a celebrity endorsement. One could even say celebrity endorsements are more relevant because at least we know Michael Jordan wears Hanes, and Chuck Norris uses the Total Gym, but we don’t know how Thomas Jefferson feels about my buying an Uzi. Even if we did know, would it really matter? People shouldn’t buy a certain kind of underwear because a retired basketball player says he likes them the best, and I think I can resist buying the Total Gym — even if Chuck Norris says it is a good machine.

Why should we let something as important as our policies be dictated by people who have been dead for about 200 years? While they did put together some documents that seem to have worked out pretty well, such as the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they certainly made mistakes. Remember the Articles of Confederation? That was their first try at setting up a system of government, and it was virtually a complete failure.

They knew they were going to make mistakes and that times would change. That is why they allowed for amendments to the Constitution.

This group of people is accountable for some problems in American history. It was their electoral college system that caused President George W. Bush to be put in the White House in 2000. It was their epic failure to fully deal with the issue of slavery that allowed for the ridiculous three-fifths compromise and eventually the Civil War. The constitution also can be blamed for so-called “activist judges” and the oversight-free wars in Iraq and Vietnam.

By using the opinions of the Founding Fathers to support their claims, people are indirectly saying they agree with the laws the Founding Fathers supported — the ones from the late 18th century. If there is one issue that we know the Founding Fathers’ view on, it is slavery. Although a contentious issue, slavery was acceptable to them. Out of 21 prominent Founding Fathers, 14 had slaves at one point, including Benjamin Franklin, John Hancock, James Madison, George Washington, and of course Thomas Jefferson, who not only owned slaves but also allegedly had a slave mistress. Even many abolitionists would be considered racists by today’s standards.

Women’s rights were also severely limited. They were called the Founding Fathers for a reason: There were no women. The Founding Fathers’ judgment was to not allow anyone but white males to vote. Regardless of these inconvenient positions, people still like to pick and choose quotes from this same group of people.

I’m not saying their work was without merit. The Founding Fathers did a lot of good for the U.S. and did a great job setting up the foundation for this country with little precedent before it.

But they did make mistakes. It is a logical fallacy to support something just because someone else does. The world has changed a lot since the Constitution was written in 1787. There is no reason to believe the Founding Fathers are more qualified to dictate policy than those living today.

The Founding Fathers were racist, sexist and made plenty of mistakes in policy. These are the individuals people today find worth quoting to support their policy ideas.

People should take the good ideas and make them their own, using current, relevant and intelligent facts to support their claims, and then discard the rest.

It is not important if a specific person in history supported a specific point. A person should have the ability to back up their ideas with facts. What a Founding Father thought about an issue is irrelevant. What’s important is what you think and that you can back up your claims.

Alex Freitag is a State News columnist and a political science and pre-law senior. Reach him at freitaga@msu.edu.