Chapter 13, Section 2:
“The ultimate purpose of projection as the ego uses it is always to get rid of guilt. ²But, characteristically, it attempts to get rid of it from its viewpoint only. ³For as much as the ego wants to retain guilt, you find it intolerable, for guilt stands in the way of your remembering God, Whose pull is so strong that you cannot resist it. ⁴On this issue, then, the deepest split of all occurs, for if you are to retain guilt, as the ego insists, you cannot be you. ⁵Only by persuading you that it is you could the ego possibly induce you to project guilt, and thereby keep it in your mind. But consider how strange a solution the ego’s arrangement is. ²You project guilt to get rid of it, but you actually merely conceal it. ³You do experience guilt feelings, but you have no idea of why. ⁴On the contrary, you associate them with a weird assortment of ego ideals which the ego claims you have failed. ⁵But you have no idea that you are failing the Son of God by seeing him as guilty. ⁶Believing you are no longer you, you do not realize that you are failing yourself.” The darkest of your hidden cornerstones holds your belief in guilt from your own awareness. ²For in that dark and secret place is the realization that you have betrayed God’s Son by condemning him to death. ³You do not even suspect that this murderous but insane idea lies hidden there, for the ego’s destructive urge is so intense that nothing short of the crucifixion of God’s Son can ultimately satisfy it. ⁴It does not know who the Son of God is, because it is blind. ⁵But let it perceive guiltlessness anywhere, and it will try to destroy it, because it is afraid. Much of the ego’s strange behavior is directly attributable to its definition of guilt. ²To the ego, the guiltless are guilty. ³Those who do not attack are its “enemies” because, by not valuing its interpretation of salvation, they are in an excellent position to let it go. ⁴They have approached the darkest and deepest cornerstone in the ego’s foundation, and while it can withstand your raising all else to question, it guards this one secret with its life, for its existence does depend on keeping this secret. ⁵So it is this secret that we must look upon calmly, for the ego cannot protect you against truth, and in its presence the ego is dispelled. In the calm light of truth, let us recognize that you believe you have crucified God’s Son. ²You have not admitted this “terrible” secret, because you still wish to crucify him if you could find him. ³But the wish has hidden him from you because it is very fearful, and you are afraid to find him. ⁴You have handled this wish to kill yourself by not knowing who you are, and identifying with something else. ⁵You have projected guilt blindly and indiscriminately, but you have not uncovered its source. ⁶For the ego does want to kill you, and if you identify with it, you must believe its goal is yours. We once said that the crucifixion is the symbol of the ego. ²When it was confronted with the real guiltlessness of God’s Son, it did attempt to kill him, and the reason it gave was that guiltlessness is blasphemous to God. ³To the ego, the ego is God, and guiltlessness must be interpreted as the final guilt which fully justifies murder. ⁴You will not yet understand that all your fear of this course stems ultimately from this interpretation, but if you will consider your reactions to it, you will become increasingly convinced that this is so. This course has explicitly stated that its goal for you is happiness and peace. ²Yet you are afraid of it. ³You have been told again and again that it will make you free, yet you react as if it is trying to imprison you. ⁴Most of the time you dismiss it, but you do not dismiss the ego’s thought system. ⁵You have seen its results and you still lack faith in it. ⁶You must, then, believe that by not learning the course, you are protecting yourself. ⁷And you do not realize that it is only your guiltlessness that can protect you. The Atonement has always been interpreted as the release from guilt, and this is correct if it is understood. ²Yet even when I have interpreted it for you, you have often rejected it and have not accepted it for yourself. ³You have recognized the futility of the ego and its offerings, but though you do not want it, you will not look upon the alternative with gladness. ⁴You are afraid of redemption, and you believe it will kill you. ⁵Make no mistake about the depth of your fear. ⁶For you believe that, in the presence of truth, you will turn on yourself and destroy yourself. Little child, this is not so. ²Your “guilty secret” is nothing, and if you will but bring it to light, the light will dispel it. ³And then no dark cloud will remain between you and the remembrance of your Father. ⁴For you will remember His guiltless Son, who did not die because he is immortal. ⁵And you will see that you were redeemed with him, and have never been separated from him. ⁶In this understanding lies your remembering, for it is the recognition of love without fear. ⁷There will be great joy in Heaven on your homecoming, and the joy will be yours. ⁸For the redeemed son of man is the guiltless Son of God, and to recognize him is your redemption.