| Reginald Finley | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1974 Atlanta, Georgia |
| Residence | Georgia |
| Nationality | Black American |
| Education | Bachelors in Human Development, 2011 |
| Occupation | Internet talk show host; former vocalist, Federal Correctional Officer and U.S. Army veteran |
| Years active | Since 1998 |
| Known for | Activism on behalf of freethought |
| Children | 5 |
| Parents | Algernon C. Finley Sr and Mary L. Finley |
| Call-sign | The Infidel Guy |
| Website | |
| www.infidelguy.com | |
Reginald Vaughn Finley, Sr. (born in 1974) is a former R&B singer, education activist, lecturer, Internet radio host, and podcaster in Atlanta, Georgia, known as the Infidel Guy.[1] From October 1999 to March 2010, he produced a program known as The Infidel Guy Show, a program in which he focused on educating individuals about science, critical thought, and exposing bad ideas.[2] He says he likes the term "infidel" because everyone is an infidel in the eyes of millions of others.[1]
The Infidel Guy Show has featured personalities from across the philosophical spectrum, including scientists Michio Kaku and Richard Dawkins, lawyer Michael Newdow, creationist Kent Hovind, Ali Sina of Faith Freedom International, philosopher Massimo Pigliucci, and Michael Shermer, founder of the Skeptics Society.[3]
Finley's family appeared on ABC's reality show Wife Swap on November 28, 2005, when Amber (his ex-wife) was swapped to a devout Christian family where the husband of the family was a pastor.[4]
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Finley is a former member of the group Forte', now called 112. He discusses the little known early history of 112 on his blog site. He attended Methodist and Baptist churches in his teens and is a former Federal Correctional Officer and an infantryman for the U.S. Army. While attending theology classes at St. Leo College at Fort McPherson, he became interested in the effects of religion on the black community, and became an irreverent critical thinker.[5] He said he read George Smith's Atheism: The Case against God, and it all became clear.[6]
He worked for a time as a "phone psychic", with the psychic network. He said he was amazed at how the callers didn't realize that they were the ones providing the information. They truly believed he was "psychic". Finley gave a talk about his methods to a Center for Inquiry conference in 2001.[7]
The Infidel Guy began in 1998 when he helped his then girlfriend, Lagina Living, leave Islam. She reported afterwards that that made her an infidel, and began calling herself "Infidel Gal". Finley then realized, "I guess I'm an infidel too," and The Infidel Guy was born. The first site was a single page hosted by GeoCities.