Americans, says James K.A. Smith, idealize the open road, the open road seems to be the pinnacle of freedom: detachment from previous communities; independence, the ability to drive on our own without a caravan; and autonomy—the ability to reinvent ourselves as a lonely traveler. But, Smith points out, this is an illusion. Roads are always mapped out, if not by us, then by others. If we submit ourselves to them, we’ve submitted ourselves to a version of ourselves we haven’t chosen, that someone else has.
cracks in the secular
cracks in the secular
cracks in the secular
Americans, says James K.A. Smith, idealize the open road, the open road seems to be the pinnacle of freedom: detachment from previous communities; independence, the ability to drive on our own without a caravan; and autonomy—the ability to reinvent ourselves as a lonely traveler. But, Smith points out, this is an illusion. Roads are always mapped out, if not by us, then by others. If we submit ourselves to them, we’ve submitted ourselves to a version of ourselves we haven’t chosen, that someone else has.