I don't know any Iranians but I had the same general thought. The theory of Marxism would be appealing to anyone stuck under the ayatollahs or the Shah. Since the Yanks backed the Shah they were tainted by association. Consequently it wouldn't be surprising to find a strong Marxist theme running through any Iranian "resistance".
Not only is this not particularly surprising but do not I find it particularly worrying. For all the hoo-ha about communism in this thread the fact remains that what most people are on about is the excesses of megalomanic psychopaths such as Stalin and Mao. Anyone with Marxist leanings but devoid of the other traits, and of basically egalitarian and democratic mind, is not much of a threat even if you think their politics is bonkers. They're allowed to be a bit potty. That's how democracy works.
Ciao Osmanthus,
Good to see you here at BerberElla's Palace (a Palace is an A+"place" ). I only attended one real rally in all my life and it was in Rome, Campo di Fiori (the piazza where there is a statue honoring Giordano Bruno ). It contained all the elements of the Iranian protest movement. There were even Muslims... but plenty of atheists and Communists. Being a member of FFI, I was drawn to participate and take notes. Also because some Italian Political heavies (whom I had never seen in real life) were among the guest speakers.
I came away shocked. Iranians are nuts, seething with fanaticism (no matter what their cause). Those people could never form a decent alliance to oppose the Ayattolah. They all had wild looks... and when D'Alema (ex Italian Prime Minister and bigshot of the ex-Communist party) went up on the dais, dozens of Iranians surged forward to lynch him. At the time that almost made me happy (when D'Alema was prime minister, he made mega-buck deals with the Ayatollahs, - despite all the horrific human rights abuses). I could understand why young Iranians could be pissed. But now I'm not so sure. Staying unified takes a certain talent for restraint. And sword-whacks-on-the-head shias lack it. This does not mean that they lack intelligence, in fact, it means more that they lack stupidity.
(To start with, they should all become Christians.)
That was the highlight of the rally... Real fear in D'Alema's eues. ... that and there was another moment when an Iranian student called for burning down mosques and actually got a big applause from the Italians, until a smart Leftwinger shouted in protest that Islam is a religion and - burning mosques is Fascistic. And that was followed by a lot of hubbub in the crowd.
=========================
I know that Manifesto and Counciil aren't words belonging to the Communist and Marxist Parties, but Manifesto language is for those who like it and the CouncilofMuslims (at least for a first post) is for anyone who clicks here.
If you want a punch in the nose Manifesto... help yourselves.
I don't think anything should be equal, (equitably legislated) except that we all have souls and we all die.
If BerberElla wants to do a manifesto, va bene!
But still... I would precede the Manifesto with something less strident. Like an "Our Father"
"Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespassed against us."
It's Golden-rulish.
A Hail Mary would be nice too...
I got it! Start C of EM with an Eskimo prayer... FADE IT OUT and replace it by a "Jump out and Terrify them and Smite off all their fingertips).
The point I'm trying to make is that Islam is not just a Political Manifesto sort of thing. The Eskimos whose prayer was so beautiful (we hope) probably live in societies that are not up to the par of a classy Parisian Arrondissment, their politics is probably entirely based on pork barreling (or whale sperm barreling) , they are primitive people, but they don't have the "madness" of Islam in them. Whether the rest of the madness in them is tolerable depends on whether you are Marxist/Calvinist oriented.
Now could an Eskimo survive all the fancy claiuses of BerberElla's manifesto? I doubt it. Thiough his prayer (we hope) spoke of love and help and tolerance and wife-swapping, the rest of him would be too primitive. He wouldn't be a Council of ExMuslims sort of guy (except for the fact that like half of us around here, he was never an ax-Muslim!)
Topic: Manifesto of the Council