This is not something that has ever been hidden from me, all of the professors who have taught about Marx have mentioned this (whether you think Marx is right or wrong is not the same as whether you think his ideas are worth studying, given the influence he's had on the world). In fact, Marx wrote more than just small polemical books like the manifesto (which was intended for a non-academic audience) but also wrote big fat tomes on economics--and he predicted things like globalization. Marx didn't think many people would die for his revolution, he thought it would be the next natural phase in economics--just like when European countries started moving towards industrialization.
This demonization of Marx as some sort of evil plotter who was "producing a religion" or planning mass murder (despite never having written about it) is wrong, and it makes conservatives look stupid, backwards, and hostile to books and education.
It's pretty clear that Marx was right about some interesting things (which he picked up on well before their time, such as globalization) but was wrong about what it meant as a whole. There was no communist revolution the way he envisioned it (whether or not he would have approved of Lenin's revolution is another question, but Marx certainly didn't tell anyone to carry out mass murder). And from what we now know, from the bloody history of the 20th century, there will probably never be a successful communist state, as concentrating power in the government only leads to bad things--from economic stagnation in Sweden to mass murder in the USSR.
But Marx couldn't have known all of this at the time he was writing. Remember, at the time he was writing, factory conditions were not so great, and workers were geniunely abused by factory owners (and discarded when they were no longer useful). The stereotypical evil, heartless capitalist did exist back in his day. We can cut Karl some slack without letting the mass murderers who followed him off the hook. And giving Karl a break doesn't mean excusing 21st century communists, who really should know better by now.
And WHO FRIGGIN' CARES if he was against the Jewish religion? (he was against the Jewish religion, not the Jewish people, so he wasn't "anti-Semitic," that term was coined to mean hating Jews based on their race) A LOT of people were anti-Jewish or anti-Semitic back then. It's a credit to George Washington that he wasn't a Jew-hater, but it's not like it would have invalidated the American Revolution if he was one (and most of the Founding Fathers sort of, uh, owned slaves, you know).
May 1st is also a high holy day for Satanists and witches. Gee, what a coincidense.
Bump!