"Infidel Guy" to be on ABC show "Wife Swap" tonight, 8 / 7 Central

[TechBear_Seattle]

Podcaster Reggie Finley, Sr., host of The Infidel Guy podcast, and his family will be featured on the ABC television show Wife Swap. The series is a "reality" show that examines differences in how Americans live their lives by having women from families with contrasting lifestyles exchange positions for two weeks.

According to ABC's description, "An outdoors-loving mom whose pastor husband speaks to god 100 times a day swaps places with an outdoors-hating computer-obsessed wife of an athiest disc jockey."

Finley describes himself as a "lifetime educational activist, quasi-humanist and atheist." The Infidel Guy show discusses critical thinking, free thought, atheism, humanism, skepticism, reason, science, and religion and spiritual beliefs.

The show features the Finley family "swapping" mothers with the family of Kelly and Jeff Stonerock. The Stonerocks live in suburban Michigan with their four children. Jeff is the pastor of the town's Pentecostal church and Kelly is its "First Lady."

Kelly travels to the urban Georgia home of Amber and Reggie Finley. The Finleys are raising three children. Reggie spends 80 hours a week working from home, broadcasting his own internet radio show and running a website devoted to atheism.

The episode is scheduled to air November 28th.

I hate to admit it, but "Wife Swap" has been much more entertaining than most "reality" shows. I'll be watching this tonight, and if we're real lucky, there might be a repeat of that delightful fundamentalist woman from Louisiana who was on a few weeks ago.

Added The link of the quote: http://www.podcastingnews.com/archives/2005/11/podcaster_caugh_1.html

[GreenPartyVoter]

1. I keep meaning to listen to Infidel Guy sometime

[Teaser]

2. Do they get it on?

nt

[leftstreet]

3. Why isn't it called Husband Swap?

:shrug:

Or Spouse Swap.

[TechBear_Seattle]

4. I think it's because...

Husbands are more likely to have a job outside of the home. It is much easier to find families where the wife can pack up and move to another state for a few weeks. And it isn't always a woman: a while back, one of the "wives" was part of a male couple. The Oklahoma man who swapped his wife for another man's husband is actually suing the producers for $10 million, saying that he became so emotionally distraught that he suffered "physical and mental illness." (see http://www.365gay.com/Newscon05/11/111805wifeSwap.htm for info.)

[grumpy old fart]

5. This show might be funny if it weren't for the fact children are involved

It's one thing for an adult to make a fool of him/herself for $$$, but another thing to drag minors into this warped crap. IMHO

[PerpetualWinter]

10. Children are required...

for the show to happen. Its a stipulation to be selected, it has to be families.

[NAO]

6. My local ABC station is not airing it today, last minute change

I will have to wait until Sunday when it is re-broadcast.

The Infidel Guy is fantastic. I am a gold member, and have downloaded many past shows including Julia Sweeney, Sam Harris, Dan Barker, and all the Robert M. Price "Bible Geek" shows.

I hope the TV show does not try to defame him, but I suspect that they will...

BTW, his wife Amber is also an atheist who was a Christian and de-converted. Reggie did a show on her de-conversion testimony, which is in the archives.

[Opusnone]

7. Godless communism vs Theocratic America

I mean, Stonerock?
Like a stone, like rock.
Outdoors-loving vs. outdoors hating?
I can't wait to see this one.

[Zookeeper]

8. I watched the show.

Initially, no one involved came off as very appealing. As is typical of these shows (or life in America?) the dads were both total workaholics. Reggie Finley worked 18 hours a day and ignored his family and Jeff Stonerock couldn't hold a simple conversation with his kids that didn't involve preaching about god.

Amber Finley sent her young kids to daycare everyday, so she could play the Sims. Fundie mom came across as most "sane," except that she couldn't stop harrassing Reggie about his atheism. Fundie dad refused to follow Amber's rules and wouldn't wear the "No God" t-shirt she gave him, hoping he could experience some of the discrimination that Atheists face.

The differences between the families finally was bridged by the parent's concern for the the kids involved. The dads rediscovered their kids and yada-yada.

My kids thought the show made the Atheists look bad, but nothing can really compare to that insane, scary, hysterical and, ultimately, hypocritical mom presented on a different episode.

[kwassa]

11. I don't know why I watched this show, but I did.

It had a certain trainwreck quality to it.

I pretty much agree with Zookeeper on the relative sanity of the different players.

The Fundies were actually well-intentioned people, and not as dogmatic as many, though there was a lot of preaching going on. The atheist Reggie Finley, in particular, seemed to have some very unresolved personal issues. I was really surprised when he broke down crying. Both of the Finleys spent way too much time on line, real 'Net addicts, unlike me, of course.

I can stop anytime.

%^)

I find that many of these shows seem to involve small business owners trying to get some free publicity through the medium of the reality show.

[PerpetualWinter]

9. A buddy of mine was asked to do that show...

He runs a major underground heavy metal website and they were looking for a metal family to switch out with someone I don't remember the details. What I do remember however is the logic of the producers:

Situation - The man is not married to his girlfriend.
Producer's Response - Not a problem we just lie.

Situation - They don't have children together.
Producer's Response - She has a kid doesn't she?

They didn't do it because of the whole conflict that would have arose with the kids biological father. They really considered it though because it would have ended up being big exposure for the website (of course, unless that exposure lead to big money the exposure would have crushed it).