A fundamental problem with leftists is their refusal to believe that some people embrace evil.

The leftist idea that anyone who isn't directly opposing the left can't be evil, only misguided, underlies many key leftist policies.

Take gun control.  It's premised on the idea that people don't kill people; guns do.  But we know that removing guns does not stop evil men from murder; contrary to the leftist's deeply held belief, Cain didn't murder Abel with an assault rifle.  After all, if some men weren't evil, why would Great Britain now be starting to control knives?

Because leftists reject the idea that there are evil men, they refuse to admit that the best way to stop an evil man with a gun is a good man with a gun.  In the leftist's universe, all men become equally bad once you put a gun in their hands.  Because leftism is a faith-based but God-rejecting belief system, it doesn't matter to leftists that gun control has been tried and has failed.  Facts will not stand in the way of leftists' emotional belief.

Obama's "rapprochement" with Iran was based on the idea that a terrorist-funding, theocratic, fascist state could be turned toward the Golden Rule just by showing its rulers how much Obama cared about them.  Obama's reasoning was like that used by Neville Chamberlain about Hitler – he was a reasonable man whom Chamberlain could deal with.

Because leftists don't believe that the mad mullahs who run Iran, as opposed to the average Iranian, are evil, they can't see that those mullahs have to be treated with carrots and sticks because they will not do what is right unless they fear the consequences of doing what is wrong.

Obama's treatment of North Korea suffered from the same failing.  North Korea is ruled by evil men and as such must be coerced into doing what is right, not talked to until its rulers see the light.  That's why Trump's threats worked while Obama's carrots failed.

With thousands of black people being shot in leftist-run cities, leftists act as though the killings aren't the work of a few evil men and hence should be addressed not by vigorous law enforcement, but by gun control and telling blacks their situation is all due to white racism.  This despite the fact that the average black resident of the Democrat-created ghettos is an honest person who doesn't go around shooting people.

Leftists also believe that we're too hard on criminals.  Leftists are constantly advocating for criminals' "rights" and support the idea that letting obviously guilty criminals loose based on legal technicalities that throw out irrefutable evidence of guilt is a good thing.

Leftists have a bizarre attitude toward murderers, rapists, and drug-dealers because leftists believe that criminals aren't really evil or responsible for their actions.  Rather, leftists argue that societal pressures, poor upbringing, etc. are the cause of crime – even though this flies in the face of the reality that most people who suffer from the problems that leftists cite as causing crime don't become criminals.  During the Rodney King riots in L.A., for example, most poor blacks didn't loot stores or beat up white people.  Yet they all had the same social disadvantages.

The result of leftists' denial of criminals being evil is that leftists support policies that hurt law-abiding citizens.  Leftists say there are too many blacks in prison and want to limit the number of blacks who are incarcerated no matter how many blacks commit crimes.  But the reality is that the victims of black criminals, who are overwhelmingly black themselves, say the criminal who attacked them were black, which means that the idea that blacks are more likely to commit crimes is not from some redneck white racist, but from the black victims crying out for justice and safety.

Because leftists deny that criminals are evil, they endorse polices like short prison sentences that put the vast majority of honest Americans at risk.  In fact, since blacks are disproportionately the victims of crime, leftist policies are racist in their effect.

Leftist belief in the underlying goodness of criminals is why leftists can be mad that so many people are in jail but not happy that crime rates have gone down – after all, to leftists, pretty much everyone in prison is just a victim of a poor upbringing or other factors over which he had no control.  In leftist land, no evil man actually chooses to commit a crime.

Because leftists deny that some people are evil, they defend Muslim radicals and equate Israel shooting terrorist bombers with Muslim terrorist bombers who are targeting women and children.  Leftists believe that radical Muslims are upset only because they don't know how much leftists love them or because of the Crusades – wars that were a defensive response to Islamic aggression and happened hundreds of years ago.

But the reality is that there are many Muslims who are evil people who feel that killing innocent people who either aren't Muslim or who aren't the right type of Muslim is okay.  Clearly, policies that flow from the belief that radical Muslims are good people at heart who just need to be convinced that the West doesn't hate them will not actually address the real problem, which is that radicalized Muslims believe in Muhammad's claim that it's okay to kill and oppress non-Muslims.

There are other leftist policies that hinge on the idea that there are no real evil people, but these examples should suffice to show the corrosive impact of the leftist's denial of the reality of evil on the American people.

Interestingly enough, as alluded to above, leftists do believe that a certain class of people are uniformly evil and uniquely culpable for all their actions – namely anyone who opposes leftists.

Because the highest goal, the unspoken moral imperative, of all leftists is total and complete control over everyone, and because to leftists all leftist beliefs are self-evidently true, they believe that whoever opposes them is evil incarnate.

Contrast leftist views on what leftists call "hate" speech directed at Muslims and the attacks on Candace Owens and Kanye West.  Since Muslims can't be evil, leftists condemn anyone who brings up the truth about the beliefs of radical Muslims.  On the other hand, when blacks espouse beliefs that leftists reject, such as the right to free speech or the right of blacks to hold differing opinions, leftists engage in the most vile, hateful rhetoric, because in their hearts, leftists believe that their opinions are the only good ones and that anyone who disagrees with them is evil.

One can't dissent from leftist orthodoxy and be good, but one can dissent from anything else, including the idea that Muslims shouldn't murder non-Muslims, and still be a paragon of moral virtue in the eyes of leftists.

When talking with friends who support leftist positions on North Korea, Iran, criminals, etc., point out to them that there are evil people in the world.  Equate those evil men with bullies, since leftists also feel comfortable condemning bullies, and ask if we should treat the "bullies" in North Korea and Iran the same way we treat the good people in France or if we should use force and threats to get them to stop, just as leftists say we should use societal pressure and school punishments to stop bullying.

You can read more of Tom’s rants at his blog, Conversations about the obvious, and feel free to follow him on Twitter.