PREMISE: Christ is the totality of existing Being(s). This could be called the totality of Reality. No matter how many Christs there are, they are all the same. The equality of sameness is so all encompassing, a better word is ONE. In oneness, there is not much logic in counting. Thus, there is no "number" of Christ's which is relevant. Numbers only apply to that which expresses differences. The only theoretical difference among Christs is which Christ has created the next Christ. The creator Christ might then be called a "father", while the created might be called a "son". However, if each son creates one more son, then equality of sameness is balanced. Then, each son is also a father, and each father is also a son. Sameness reigns unbroken. The reason for sameness/oneness/equality is because of perfection. The nature of perfection is there is no reason to change, since all is perfect as it is. The reason for creating, then, is for sharing, specifically, sharing of joy. Each Christ has a full share of the totality of existence. Each Christ is thus, "all in all". Or, "King of Kings". This is possible in a spiritual world/existence. Not possible in a material existence. THESIS: Change, then, is the enemy of perfection. If Christ is perfection, change is the enemy of Christ. If Christ is eternal life, then change is some kind of antithesis to life, namely, death. If Christ is the totality of existence, then anything that depends upon change does not exist. What changes must be the imperfect, searching, or not, for the perfect. Man depends upon change, specifically, a changed Christ. Man's dependence upon change should be self-evident. Man is the imperfect manifestation of change, seeking something more. In theory, man seeks for perfection, always something more than what man is. Thus, man is a seeking machine, never finding, so long as he embraces change. Thus far, in man's seeking, he has gained an entire new world, all his own. In gaining this new world all his own, man has lost his soul. The unchanging soul of man is Christ. LOGIC: Since Christ is all that exists, and only what exists, how or why does man manifest? Man manifests out of a simple proposition: Is there more than perfection itSelf? If Christ knows all (everything), then this proposition is a stupid question. Nothing more exists than Christ, which is perfection itSelf. A stupid question invites self-deception in order to be answered. Thus, to answer this question, Christ must play mind games to self-deceive. Man emerges out of these mind games. Man emerges out of what i'll call imagination. As such, man is a fantasy. The fantasy is given "legs", so-to-speak, out of the sheer power of the mind of Christ, using that power for self-deception. Man does not exist, except for that aspect of the mind of Christ which is participating in self-deception. Man represents an additional "self". As such, man is MORE than Christ. Man is the answer to whether or not there is more. In this capacity, man portends to BE Christ. However, in this capacity, i will try to explain that man is a "dead Christ". Technically, Christ cannot die, except under the influence of self-deception. Thus, as there is no dead Christ, there is also no man. Neither really exist.
Drilling Deeper: Knowledge, specifically the knowledge of everything, is an aspect of perfection. What knows all knows that it knows all. Thus, what knows all (Christ) does not ask questions. This is why all questions must be stupid questions. Any attempt to answer a stupid question will invite more stupidity. Christ is the answer to all stupid questions. If Christ is all that exists, stupid questions must come from Christ, or, from an aspect of the mind of Christ that is toying with fantastic (untrue) ideas. If Christ is all that exists, all stupid questions will be ABOUT CHRIST ...about Christ's nature, qualities, being, and/or existence. The nature of knowing everything is challenged by any question, stupid or not. To answer any question, the all-knowing must presume some degree of ignorance. This ignorance is presumed in what i will call the imagination. Imagination is an abuse of the power of the mind of Christ. Imagination is not natural or normal. If Christ is ignorant, then the mind of Christ must IGNORE the fact that the mind of Christ knows all. Fantasy, then, is a psychological realm full of cognitive dissonance. Such is man's beginning.
Definitions: For purposes of this paper, "man" is an abbreviation for all that can be manifested. That is, whatever can emerge out of the psychological realm of fantasy/imagination is what i'll call "man". The term "mankind" will represent all that can be manifested. Man is an abbreviation of mankind is an abbreviation of all that can be manifested. Manifestation is a word to describe the process of imagination which presumes to transform something that is unreal into a real state of being. It's not really possible to transform anything from unreal to real, however, that is what the realm of imagination presumes it has the power to accomplish. The evidence the imagination offers to prove it's case, are the material worlds, as well the principles that underpin the material worlds. The material worlds, the manifested, are a statement that the unreal have become real. The manifested offers as much proof as it can, proving it's own existence. Imagination can only prove this within a realm of ignorance. One must be ignorant of the fact that you can't transform unreal to real to participate. Man emerges as a manifested image out of the factory of imagination. Imagination is not the same as creation. Creation is the emergence of reality from reality. Manifestation is the emergence of something that thinks of itself as "real", out of literally nothing (unreality). There is an important nuance of distinction here: Manifestations are "made", while Christ (Reality) is created. What is made is "manufactured". Art emerges from a manufacturing process. Magic is a term that describes the manifestation process. Man is a product of magic. Magic is an abbreviation of the imaginative process; imagination. Magic is the process of changing what is basically the same, to what is different. Magic presumes a basic building block, such as a quark, an atom, or, a "God particle". It is sometimes called "energy" or "vibrations". Out of what is the same comes what is different. What is different can then be counted. We can count the stars now, because they are all different. We can count men, because they are all different. Differences are the basis of partitions, which can only seem to exist in the realm of ignorance. One must be ignorant (ignore) oneness to participate in the realm of partitions.
Change and Death: The realm of imagination is an abnormal abuse of the mind power of Christ, which takes what knows all, and transforms it into what does not know all. Ignorance is a deliberate shunning of the knowing of all. If what knows all is the Self (Christ), then ignorance is sabotage against the Self to gain something more. Ignorance presumes to offer more than Christ can offer through the imaginative process, manifesting new concepts, new things, new beings out of nothing (null and void). Ignorance intends to answer the question/proposition: Is there more than Me? Or, if I (Christ) am Everything (all that exists): Is there more than Everything? Ignorance reaches out, with mind power, to pull out of nothing what can possibly be more than Everything. To accomplish this, it goes out beyond the domain of Everything, seeking something more. There are no borders in the domain of Everything, so ignorance makes them, presuming there is a limit to Everything, and, beyond the limit is something more. In so many ways, ignorance begins to change the fundamental nature of Reality (Christ) into something it is not. Beyond the limit of Everything, out of nothing, man emerges from the ignorant manipulation of imagination. The manifestation appears only to the interested party. The interested party does not really have a name, it is more like a principle. The basic principle is ignorance, which takes on a life of it's own as it borrows/steals power from the mind of Christ. In the realm of ignorance, it's main source of power is attention. So long as the original proposition/question is given attention, the power of ignorance will seem to grow. It has been said: Energy flows where attention goes. To keep growing/surviving, ignorance must grab one's attention. It must grab it from Christ. It must keep Christ interested in the proposition. The flow of attention is facilitated by distraction(s). Given too much attention, ignorance will grow like a cancer in the mind of Christ, and take over it's host. Demonic possession symbolizes this process of overthrow. What demons are to men, ignorance is to Christ. Out of this ignorance is conceived all manner of manifestation, including "man". The purpose of ignorance is not so much to destroy Christ, that is only it's function. The purpose is to answer the question: Is there more? Destruction is a function of the pursuit of answering this question. The question can't ultimately be answered without destroying Christ. The concept of more is not initially seen as a threat. It's not wrong for Christ to have everything, and to be everything. This is a good thing, and is an aspect of perfection. So can it be wrong to find out if there is more to have, or more to be? It's the curiosity that eventually kills. The question forces change to the nature of Christ. Change is fundamentally death to what came before. Video, for example, killed the radio star. That is, what came before change must no longer exist, transforming from existence to nothing. As manifestation presents more and more distractions, remembrance of what was original is coming to nothing/dying. Each manifestation proposes, and answers the original proposition: Is this more of me? Or, is this me? In so many ways, imagination, ruled by ignorance, changes Reality (Christ) until nothing can be remembered about Christ. At that point, Christ is effectively dead. The manifestations are dead too, if you could see how they are animated. Puppets appear to be animated, but if you could see the strings, you could conclude the puppet is not alive, and/or "dead". So it is with the "life" of man. It is not apparent, at least from man's perspective, just how structured are his limits, how his actions are predetermined, scripted, and foreordained. The art, or artifice (fakery) involved in making man appear is astounding. It is self-deception on a grand scale. In one scenario, man is not much more than an image on a screen in a movie. Are such images "alive"?
You mean they are like yours? I googled rational thought for philosophers: "What is rational thought in philosophy? Rationalism, in Western philosophy, the view that regards reason as the chief source and test of knowledge. Holding that reality itself has an inherently logical structure, the rationalist asserts that a class of truths exists that the intellect can grasp directly." Well there are only two modes of mind, 1) a mind that knows , 2) a mind that wishes The nature of knowledge is total, that is, one does not know anything till one knows everything. The alternative is ignorance, if total knowledge is the default/original state of being. Faith is set firmly in the realm of ignorance. Faith is essentially wishing. Wishing and magic are essentially the same thing. Faith, wishing, magic and thinking are closely correlated. The realm of imagination will take faith, wishing, magic and thinking and try to "manifest" whatever it is that is wished for. It boils down to wishing, versus willing. The will of the one who knows is to maintain the original perfection. The wish of the one who has faith is to make changes. The first change is against the original perfection. Additional changes are made when problems arise regarding the change of the original conditions. Problems will continue until the first change is addressed, and one changes one's mind about the value of change and it's offspring. If there are only two states of mind, what is this so-called "reason"? Reason is an effort to wish for what is willed by the original perfection, what i call Christ. Wishing versus willing is a conflict of interests in the mind. Can reason heal cognitive dissonance within the mind? Perhaps, if eventually the reason can align an ego's wishes with it's Self's will. That is, wishes are what an ego is interested in; will is what the Self is interested in. Man is a collection of egos only interested in what it wishes for, regardless of truth/reality. Faith is a euphanism man uses to white-wash his wishing, regardless of the truth. That is, man only ever believes what he wants to be true. Does not matter what is true. Whoever reasons, then, at best, may be called a "good detective". A good detective seeks the truth, regardless where it may lead. This is necessary because the truth leads to the complete invalidation of man's very existence. This is directly contradictory to what every man is trying to accomplish; his own validation. Man battles, every day, to maintain his apparent existence. In this battle, man goes directly against Christ, which is the only Being which does exist. Man, then, functions as a substitute for Christ. This position, as a substitute, is very dangerous, and always leads to destruction. The most ubiquitous type of destruction is something man calls "death". However, death is merely more change, albeit change that is more rapid and more radical than is comfortable. Once this is understood, the reasoned philosopher can perhaps accept that all change is death, compared to the comfort of Christ. Since Christ is all that exists, and the only being that does exist, anything that changes must be a dead Christ, if it's true that Christ does not change. The truth is Christ does not change because of the perfection principle. This truth threatens the existence of man, so good luck finding a "good detective" willing to accept this. This is easier to accept if the detective is able to identify as Christ. Thus, the loss of his own so-called "life" (apparent existence) is not such a loss at all. So long as the loss of his life is seen as a loss, man will not accept that his soul was, and still is, Christ.
Actually, perhaps I expressed myself badly, I was possibly in a hurry. You should say more about all the points in your recent stuff. And post more frequently.
Time is a tomb for a dead Christ. Today, top scientists (good detectives?) are just now starting to wake up to the realization that time is fake news. For example: " Time is NOT real: Physicists show everything happens at the same time TIME is not real - it is a human construct to help us differentiate between now and our perception of the past, an equally astonishing and baffling theory states. By SEAN MARTIN 15:30, Sun, Jul 4, 2021 | UPDATED: 10:54, Mon, Jul 5, 2021 The concept of time is simply an illusion made up of human memories, everything that has ever been and ever will be is happening right now. That is the theory according to a group of esteemed scientists who aim to solve one of the universe’s mysteries. Most people do not even consider the concept of time but there is nothing in the laws of physics to state that it should move in the forward direction that we know. The laws of physics are symmetric, ultimately meaning time could have easily moved in a backward direction as it does forward." Another term for "illusion" (Einstein's term for time) is deception. More precisely, time is a self-deception, if you are coming from the realization that Christ was, and still is, your Soul (Self). Time offers the experience that change is actually happening. Time, change and differences are closely correlated. As the article states, time helps man differentiate. I say that time is an offspring of the concept of differences. Differences, if you've read all my articles here, are the offspring of change, specifically, the changing of what is One, Christ(s), to something that is more than One. Time becomes an illusion which facilitates the seeking of what is more than One (more than Christ). The concept of seeking, already, is "more than Christ". Christ does not seek anything, already knowing everything. Knowing everything, there is nothing more to seek. Seeking, then, is an expression of ignorance, specifically the ignoring of the totality of knowledge. If Christ is what Christ has, then Christ is the totality of knowledge. That is, Christ is knowledge itSelf. As such, Knowledge (now with a capital K) is a Living Being. Knowledge is not outside the Living Being, as if it needed to be acquired to ameliorate an initial state of ignorance. Manifestations (man) however, are initially instantiated out of an ignoring of Knowledge, and, ostensibly, seek to ameliorate their ignorance the the acquisition of "knowledge" so-called. But all that man accomplishes is to observe relatively reliable manifestations of faith. For example, if man observes the sun shining every day, and collect data about the sun, he may say he knows something. But eventually, the sun will change, as all manifestations do, and it will be called "death". It will explode, implode...there are various expressions of rapid, radical change (change that is no longer comfortable). When the sun dies, everything that depended upon its gradual changing, will change rapidly and radically along with it, and die too. What then, did man's "knowledge" about the sun help him? Was it really knowledge? Or, if man knows something about the sun, but doesn't know anything about gravity, can he really claim to have knowledge? No, he only has the observation of relatively reliable data. The data itself is a manifestation of faith. Faith based manifestations only seem permanent relative to the relatively shorter change cycle of man. Galaxies, for example, have cycles longer than man's relatively short cycle. But even galaxies, as they change, will collide and then change more rapidly and radically...unless the "universe" is expanding outward and a few galaxies might escape collision. Still, they do not escape change. Premise: All changes are happening simultaneously. That is to say, all differentiations have been proposed in a single instant. If you aggregate all proposed changes into a single change, we can call it a "dead Christ". If all changes have already been proposed simultaneously, then what experiences change (man, for example), is not really animated (alive). Man's animation (apparent aliveness) is itself an illusion (an appearance). Man's movement is correlated with man's perception. Perception is correlated with deception. All deception is self-deception. All self-deception is the offspring of the ignorance of the Self. If the Self is Christ, then man, as an illusion of animation, is a dead Self, that is, a dead Christ. Man is animated within the domain of time, itself an illusion (deception, deceptive appearance). As such, man is a dead Christ. We could also say man is a deceived Christ. If Christ is all that exists, then all deception must be self-deception. If so, then man is self-deceived. More specifically, man is deceived about Christ. As such, man knows exactly nothing about Christ. Man's very "existence" (animated appearance) challenges the very existence of Christ. If man exists, then Christ is "dead". For this reason, man does depend on a dead Christ for his apparent existence, his so-called "life". Beware, then, any religion (echo chamber of faith-based wishes) which depends upon a dead Christ for it's so called "life". But what depends upon a dead Christ is the dead Christ in a grand substitution scheme. The substitution scheme is driven by the fact that whatsoever you do to Christ, you do to your S/self. The use of the term S/self expresses the fact that when you seek to change the Self that is Christ, you automatically become something different, which you then call your "self". This is the expression of cognitive dissonance akin to bipolar disorder or schizophrenia. The manifestations of a changed/changing "self" are all proposed simultaneously, in a single instant. Therefore, among the differentiations proposed, there is still a loose basis of unity (oneness). Although faith-based (ignorance based) manifestations mostly appear to be different, they are till all the same thing. The "same thing" that they are is what i call a "dead Christ". Today, top scientists (good detectives?) are finding that the so-called "universe" is actually some kind of hologram. Within the hologram, there is not just one "universe". There are many. Each one slightly differentiated from the other. Neither is there a single "self". There are many selves, each slightly different than the other. Each self is differentiated by the decisions s/he makes, as well the decisions made around the so-called self (the environment). It can be argued that for each decision in a decision tree, there is another universe, with another so-called self, experiencing the effects of that decision. Arguably, some universes will be better than others, if each decision involves an element of danger. After all we make decisions thinking that some outcomes are better than others relative to the worst decisions involving actual danger of rapid radical change that is uncomfortable relative to the pace of change we prefer. A decision tree involving all the worse decisions might lead to a universe that could rightly be called "hell". A decision tree involving the best decisions might lead to a universe we might argue is "heaven", relative to the hellishness of hell. I argue that a good decision can transfer your prime experience to the "self" that is currently navigating a better, albeit parallel, universe. As said, all differentiations have already been made in a single instant, which has been subdivided, through trickery (self-deception) into many instants that make up the body of time. The "self" that experiences hell, primarily, can shift it's experience to better conditions by deciding factors. But nothing actually changes. All differentiations are propositions within the domain of imagination. Propositions are like blueprints. The plans of imagination can never really be built into a reality. That is to say, the hologram containing all time, and all differentiations, can never rise, in and of itself, to the status of Reality, which is a condition belonging only to Christ. If what belongs to Christ is also what Christ is, then man (the manifestations of imagination) can only ever substitute for (pretend to be) Christ...can never actually be Christ. I am emphasizing that the substitution for Christ (a fake Christ) is still a single entity, and that the entity is not actually alive, like Christ. To help conceptualize this, you may think of a movie on film. Each frame is a snapshot (a proposal) which arguably is not animated. It does not move. Arguably it is "dead". Strung together, several frame (several propositions) seem to become animated and move around. Stringing more frames per proposition (story line), more frames per second (more instants per instant), may manufacture a fairly believable drama about living beings. But the entire hologram (movie(s)) is not more alive than any single frame (proposition). Thus, all changes that can be proposed about Christ/Reality, have already been proposed in an instant, and have already been discarded as foolish, without value, and in fact impossible. As such, the "dead Christ" is only experienced by that which still gives it's attention to the initial proposition: Is there more than Christ/Me? With Christ's full attention, the proposition kills Christ as dead as Christ can be. Christ is so alive, that even in a dead state, Christ appears to be animated with a so-called "life". Given actual knowledge, it would become obvious just how dead the collection of multiple parallel universi actually are. Premise: Christ is the universe. A collection of parallel universi, each one a little different from the other based upon sundry decision trees mocks Christ. A mockery is a fake characterization (caricature) of the Real. Personified as a single entity, the mockery may be called the "anti-Christ". Singling out a single man to play this role is mind games...the continuation of a grand Self-deception from it's very beginning. All manifestations emanating out of the imagination, collectively, are the anti-Christ. As such, man's "collective consciousness" is, basically, the anti-Christ. Ego's are proposed separations (differentiations) between one mind. Out of one mind, many minds, so-to-speak. Many minds are an impossibility manifested by the ignorance of the fact that there is only one Mind, that is, the Mind of Christ. What begets the first ego (differentiation within the Mind of Christ) begets as it was begotten. Begotten of change, it begets things that continue to change, depending upon change for their very existence. From one ego, then, come the many. But just as many instants (propositions) come from one instant, so too many egos come from, and still are, one ego. Each ego is an alternative self, that is, and alter-self. An alter-self is an anti-Christ, if the true Self is Christ. The collection of anti-christs, each a little different from each other, constitutes the singular anti-christ, as well the singular "dead Christ". There is a converse relationship between Christ and it's alter ego, the so-called "anti-Christ". For example, there is a converse relationship between the sun and the moon. To see the moon, it must be dark. Conversely, if you can see the sun, you can't see the moon. So describes man's relationship with Christ: CONVERSE. If you can see man, you cannot see Christ (Christ is functionally dead). If you can see Christ, you cannot see man (the manifestations of imagination). Mutually exclusive, man (as well the entire collection of anti-christ) depends upon the death of Christ for it's so-called "life". Conversely, Christ depends upon the end (death) of man for Christ's own Life. The end of time, then, is the re-rising of the Life of Christ. Time is fake substitute for the reality of eternity. The relationship between time and eternity is converse. You can't have eternity if time exists, and you can't have time if eternity exists. Stated more clearly, you can't have changelessness if change exists, and you can't have change if changelessness exists. Stated even more clearly, you can't have a series of propositions that change Christ to something else, while you have Christ, which does not change. Man, then, is a "dead Christ" within the tomb of time (an illusion), wrapped by a hologram (a mockery), inside of a riddle. The end of man (and his world) comes when the attention initially given to the series of propositions (to add more to Christ) is withdrawn, and given to the Self that is truly Christ. Christ, then, is saved through relative subtraction, the opposite of addition (the seeking of more). The relative subtraction of man can be likened to the subtraction of dirt from the body through washing. When the manifestations are washed off, you will be able to see Christ, as is, not as the dirt made Christ to be.
If time is a tomb for a dead Christ, then the end of death is the end of time. Given a better understanding of time, the end of death could be tomorrow, today...even right now. ...if the mind is ready to accept it. All death is the death of Christ, if all changes are about changing Christ (in a quest for more). Agreeing with this thesis is a step toward readiness of mind. When ready, there is no delay in the expected effects. The effects will be primarily psychological where a mind is raised up from the realm of perception to the realm of knowledge. A body is not included in the realm of knowledge, because a body is something that is perceived within the domain of imagination. A body is an extension of some very foolish ideologies about Christ. The foolishness is rooted deeper than the inception of the concept of bodies. Thus, before there was any kind of "Adam" or "Eve", there was some very dark foolishness. What knows does not even see bodies, in keeping with the fact that bodies cannot be known. This, then, can be a gauge with which to measure readiness. What knows is the master of time...not the other way around. On the path of readiness, one may well travel backwards and forwards in time. Prior to that, one may be visited by fellows who are traveling backwards and forwards in time. These are signs. Another sign is the ability to appear and disappear, to locate somewhere else instantaneously, or even to appear in two places at once. There are many signs. If one is feeling imprisoned by a linear experience of time, anchored to one place at a time, he should assume he has a few more steps to take to be ready to escape the tomb. Agreeing that you, as a person, are a dead Christ, is a major phycological step to readiness. I would argue this is a pre-requisite for one whose destiny it is to BE Christ. If you are not a dead Christ, you are still going against a key quality in Christ; oneness. That is, if you cannot perceive the unity underlying the human experience, you are not ready for the oneness of Christ. Despite differences, there is only one thing that is dying/dead. Despite different kinds of death/change, there is only one thing that is dying/changing. Every death, is the death of Christ. Every change, is the change of Christ. I've said, what you do to Christ you do to your Self. If your ideology would kill Christ, then you your self (as a substitute for Christ) will be killed. Breathing is the manifestation of an ideology that would kill Christ if it could (it can't so it won't). But Christ cannot be killed. What can be killed are substitutes for Christ. You become a substitute when you propose foolish ideology about Christ. Then you start breathing (Christ does not breath). Then you start eating (Christ does not eat). Then you start learning (Christ does not learn). Then you start growing (Christ does not grow). Then you start dying (Christ does not die). All adverse effects of your ideology are done to substitutes for Christ. As a substitute, they are done to you. Given the basic unity of the human experience, your neighbors are also substitutes. Logically, what we do to the substitutes, we also do to our self. If our neighbors are substituting for Christ, then what we do to them we do to Christ, in a roundabout sort of way. Here then is a way we can reverse the effects of our adverse ideology against Christ. If our treatment of neighbors is specifically aimed at a better treatment of Christ-As-Self, then we can take a few more steps toward phycological readiness to accept the actual experience of Christ-As-Is. One step could be, for example, to see all substitutes as Christ-As-Isn't. A step beyond that, you might see Christ-As-Is beyond the appearance of the substitute. But you can't see both. They are mutually exclusive. Substitutes are like dirt on the body of Christ (Christ does not have a body! It's a parable!). With so much dirt (foolish ideology) on Christ, you cannot see Christ. To see Christ, you must have some psychological mechanism that washes away the dirt that is blocking a clear view of cleanliness. There are a couple mechanisms i could recommend. The first is forgiveness. If you can wash away the dirt on others, you gradually wash away the dirt on your "self". This takes place in the subconscious, where mankind meets in it's collective consciousness. See others as Christ, and you will eventually see yourself as Christ. Another mechanism is meditation. In meditation you are not really looking at, or thinking about anyone or anything. This is the kind of medicine the mind needs to be able to return to the natural stillness of knowing. Meditation needs to be purposeful, with intention, to arrive at a breakthrough experience of Christ...and to maintain that experience. We are destined to have permanent experience as Christ, but till then, we will have a taste, and return the experience of a dying substitute. Meditation will start to yield some taste. Those who persist with intent and purpose will have the permanent experience, tomorrow, today, or even now. If one's purpose is to have a better experience as a substitute, one will stop there, and stay the substitute. In selecting teachers, you must beware those who are satisfied to remain substitutes. Beware, for example, anyone claiming to be "like Christ" but "No! Not Christ!" (as if it was a sin to know everything). Anyone who is "like Christ" is a mockery of Christ, as there is no neutral ground to hold. One is either for Christ, or against. "Like Christ" expresses contentment with all substitutes who mock Christ, and eventually lose what they are holding on to. They will continue to change slowly (called "life") and quickly (called "death") through as many re-embodiments (re-substitutions, re-incarnations) as they need till they become weary, and thus, ready. Christ does not live and die, live and die, live and die. This is absurd. So whoever does this is not even "like" Christ. Whoever breaths air is not like Christ. Whoever eats food is not like Christ. Whoever grows/learns/believes is not like Christ. Whoever dies is not like Christ. So beware the "like Christ" culture. We can, however see them as Christ-As-Isn't. Christians, then, can be seen as Christ-I-Ain'ts. They ain't Christ. Just ask them. We can forgive them for thinking they are "like Christ", when, in fact, they are dying. We can forgive them for thinking they have arrived, when, in fact, they are still in hell. Salvation is not for substitutes. Salvation is for Christ, from the substitutes that would declare Christ dead. Salvation is certainly not for substitutes, who make Christ to be a substitute for their substitutional selves. Christ is not a substitute for humanity. As a converse relationship, it is exactly the other way round. Since any and all death is the death of Christ, any one person could symbolize the death of Christ. That's all that Jesus did. Since any kind of death can symbolize the death of Christ, so too can crucifixion. If one cannot understand this, one is not ready for the oneness of Christ, being not even ready to accept the unity of the human experience. Crucifixion is a particularly apt graphic picture of what the very existence of mankind does to Christ, if it could. Since the existence of mankind cannot crucify Christ, it is man, Christ's substitutes, who are crucified instead (in Christ's place). To that end, every man carries his own cross.