My friend John Marks never does things halfway; it's balls to the wall, or not at all. So not only is he touring with Reasons to Believe, his wonderful new book about evangelical Christianity, he's touring with A Purple State of Mind, the new film he's made with his old Davidson College roommate, Craig Detweiler. (Watch the trailer here.) Craig and John's years of sharing a room coincided with the first stirrings of Craig's faith, and the last stirrings of John's, and they've made a terrific, funny, and moving film about it, chronicling their history as friends and their diametrically opposed (but still respectfully and affectionately expressed) views on faith.
They've been traveling around the country, showing the film and engaging in intense discussions with audiences, and at last they're coming to John's home state. They're screening the film at 6 pm on Monday, March 31, in my neighborhood, at the Alamo Drafthouse South in Austin; the show will feature music by local fave John Dee Graham, the film, and a discussion with John and Craig afterwards. Then, since Craig will have braved the godless Obamanians of my neighborhood, John will brave the Christians of Baylor University, when they show the film on Baylor's campus on Tuesday, April 1. On April 2, John will return to Austin (if he survives his night in Waco) to read from his book at Bookpeople at 7 pm.
It promises to be an interesting few days, especially for John: some of his family will be in the audience in Austin, and I'm looking forward to hearing their reaction to John's first question to Craig about Jesus in the film. Now that I think about it, John may not make it to Waco.
Anyway, it's going to be lively, provocative, and fun. Y'all come!
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