Power or empowerment

Carolyn J. Dean writes, “Most trace decentering to a general philosophical recognition of the other” That is to say, when they (most) identify the other, they do so as the other is in relationship to the self.  It is a subtle philosophical and epistemological move that throws the self in relief, noted as decentered.  The position of the self will always be in relationship to the other now that this move has been made in many, if not all our basic philosophical orientations (or disorientations). The situation is this: “the self has been decentered, but it has not been relocated in an ‘other’ awaiting liberation (as in surrealism) or abolished” So the self has not been shifted to the position of an-other, nor has either been dissolved. The decentered self and the other are only understood in relationship to each other or some outlying variable. Understanding one as being in a position relative to another allows for the speaking of the other through the self.  The self acts as a conduit, and through it, the other becomes empowered. Empowerment is different from being given power. Christians are given the Spirit of power, not a spirit of fear. This is the actual giving of power, giving Christians the strength to stand up against all persecutions. While empowerment comes to work within relationships with persons of this world, Christ has given a power that rests in no relationship with a worldly entity. This is different from empowerment, given by others.

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