I don't know if it's possible to say that the left supports the Iranian theocracy, but it seems safe to say that it is, in general, economical in its criticism of the ayatollahs. A good measure of this is Lula. He is an ultra-light leftist, but he does not miss opportunities to align himself with Tehran. In 2009, the end of the mega-electoral fraud that returned Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to the presidency. Last week, Iran announced that it had received a call from the Brazilian Foreign Ministry proposing "close cooperation" to condemn the United States' intervention in Venezuela. Should the left be against religion in principle? In 1844, Karl Marx wrote: "Religious suffering is, at one and the same time, the expression of real suffering and a protest against real suffering. Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world and the soul of a soulless state. It is the opium of the people." Marx is an author who got things right and wrong. He made more mistakes than he got right, but I think that criticizing religions is one of the areas in which he got things right. Just see that an effect that always appears in countries that become rich is the emptying of religions. In practice, however, the left has never been very consistent in denouncing religions as an illusion. A good example is the pan-Arabism of Nasser, in Egypt, and the Baath Party, in Syria and Iraq. Although they were, on paper, socialist and secular, they never strayed far from Islam. Even on the non-Marxist left, we have the case of Foucault, who was enchanted by Ayatollah Khomeini and for some time supported the Iranian theocracy. Anti-Americanism is part of the explanation for the left's high tolerance for regimes like Iran, but I think there is also a more metaphysical link. Marxists and religious people seem to share the belief in a redemptive teleological principle, whether we call it God or historical materialism, which will lead man to a kingdom of bliss. It is easier to believe in utopias than to accept that we live in a world without purpose. LINK PRESENT: Did you like this text? Subscribers can access seven free accesses from any link per day. Just click the blue F below.