Does justice require restoration or punishment?

The ego does not perceive sin as a lack of love, but as a positive act of assault. This is necessary to the ego’s survival because, as soon as you regard sin as a lack, you will automatically attempt to remedy the situation. And you will succeed. The ego regards this as doom, but you must learn to regard it as freedom. T-5.V.4:10-13

A Course in Miracles . Foundation for Inner Peace. Kindle Edition. 

A Course In Miracles is very cryptic. The verses take a lot of unpacking to understand their meaning. 

In today’s verses, it is written that the ego does not see sin as a lack of love but rather as an attack of some sort. Redemption, exoneration, the undoing of the harm caused by sin makes it even more real and consequential when what really is necessary is the rising above the illusion of sin as attack and instead see it as a lack of love which requires a move from the perpetrator role with concomitant guilt  to the position of forgiveness which entails the giving up of the ego and returning to the place of unconditional love which is a healing that the Course calls “Atonement” or the becoming one with the All and healing the separation..

In Unitarian Universalism we join together to affirm and promote justice, equity, and compassion in human relations.. This principle encourages restorative not punitive criminal justice practices.

Today, it is suggested that we  consider sin as a lack of love instead of attack. Reframing sin in this way contributes to much more beneficial ideas about redemption and salvation.