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We actually do read and discuss theory quite a lot, both online and when we are at party meetings (though many times the meetings are for organizing things like protests, or other matters). What you may be noticing is that we don't tend to "quote farm," ie find a relevant quote from a Marxist theorist, and use that as an argument. It's unconvincing and comes across as book worship.
This creates a 2-sided problem: either we worship theory, or we don't read it at all, in the eyes of liberals. It's a perfect, thought-terminating bubble where there's a great excuse ready-made to not take communists seriously, either we don't know what we are talking about, or we are detached from reality. It's simply impossible for us to not rely on quote farming while actually knowing what we are talking about. Same with "state propaganda."
This more speaks to yourself not knowing what communism is, though. Marx and Engels have railed against utopianism, and were proponents of scientific socialism. Same with the idea of a mass murder fantasy.