Shawn Ryan, former Navy SEAL, CIA contractor, and founder of the Vigilance Elite podcast, describes his disillusionment with politics, a profound spiritual transformation involving encounters with what he believes are demonic forces and a glimpse of hell, and his resulting turn toward Christianity and away from public influence-seeking.
The Lies of Politicians and Institutions
Ryan has concluded he never wants to involve himself in the U.S. political system or vouch for any politician again.
With the possible exception of Rep. Eli Crane, every politician he has interviewed has lied to him.
Politicians call him to dictate what topics to avoid (e.g., land sales in Utah, campaign help), and he realizes his platform often just gives them four hours of lies to reuse in campaigns.
The only candidate who impressed him long-term was Joe Kent; everyone else was a “wash or a complete disaster.”
This disillusionment extends to all major institutions.
Military: Pete Blaber (former Delta Force colonel) revealed the Iraq invasion was justified using fabricated intelligence — a water truck labeled a mobile Scud launcher, an air conditioner called a WMD factory air filtration system, a man urinating called a sentry guard.
SEAL Teams: Eddie Gallagher case, Blackwater incident, drone footage deleted to conceal innocence — “lots of lies coming out of the SEAL teams.”
If one small unit in one branch is this corrupt, Ryan reasons every U.S. institution (CIA, FBI, Congress, Senate, presidencies) operates the same way.
“Everything you fucking know is a lie. Everything you think you know, everything in the history books, it’s all fucking lies.”
Shawn’s Spiritual Transformation
After campaigning for Trump as the alternative to the “uniparty,” Ryan watched Trump align with Chuck Schumer, leading him to question whether a political solution exists at all.
He became obsessed with uncovering evil, starting with child exploitation (LGBTQ ideology affecting eight-year-olds, Roblox investigation that wiped billions off market cap).
The obsession expanded: everywhere he looked, institutions lied, narratives were manufactured for views, and he couldn’t trust anything.
Audience praise (“you’re doing God’s work”) became more dangerous than criticism — flattery inflated his ego and drove him to chase the next explosive topic for the dopamine hit.
A 5-MeO-DMT (“bufo”) experience in late 2024 became a turning point.
He did not see devils or fire; he felt an indescribable, absolute agony, aloneness, and terror — what he believes was a glimpse of hell.
“I never ever want to feel that again. Ever.” The experience cracked him open and sent him down a new path.
He returned to the Catholic Church, attending Mass three to four times a week, often bringing his young children one-on-one.
A priest’s homily on the parable of the wheat and weeds resonated: calling out others’ evil while ignoring one’s own makes you a weed.
“We all have an evil side. We all are selfish in our own ways.”
He realized he had been putting business, money, attention, and perceived power over family and truth.
“How much time did I miss? Like, cuz my own fucking ego… Look who I’m having lunch with. Look who I’m talking to. I know everything. And then you get all the information. And what do you do with it? Nothing. You just fucking look cool.”
Encounters With God and Demons
Ryan describes multiple supernatural encounters confirming spiritual reality.
In Sedona (approx. 2021), during a personal crisis (friend’s death, child exploitation investigations, cultural decay), he hiked to an “energy vortex” and experienced an internal battle — a voice urging him to surrender, to accept pedophilia as “minor-attracted persons,” to stop fighting.
An old man at a guarded gate read his mind, telling him “all this shit that’s going on with the kids… that’s not your fight,” and referenced China/spy balloon — details the man couldn’t have known.
Simultaneously, a man identical to his deceased protector-friend Gabe appeared everywhere they went that week.
Returning to their bungalow, Ryan received a text from the daughter of his recently deceased friend Dan Cerillo — a woman he’d never met, who didn’t have his number — describing a visceral visitation from her father urging her to contact Ryan.
“That changed my life forever.”
Since the bufo experience, he has worked with respected exorcists; “really scary shit” has happened, confirming demonic reality.
“If there are supernatural forces that are evil acting on people… then the other is definitely real, too.”
“It’s not faith to me anymore. It’s fact. It is 100% fact.”
Sobriety and Removing Noise
Ryan has eliminated all substances and distractions to hear God clearly.
No alcohol (4+ years), no weed (~1 month), no caffeine, no nicotine.
Deleted Instagram, X, Truth Social; doesn’t check YouTube metrics or financials.
“I don’t want to hear the praise. I don’t want to hear Sean, you suck. I just want to hear God. And I want to be quiet so I can hear that.”
Withdrawal was manageable because the spiritual stakes felt infinitely higher.
Without substances masking emotions, he now feels the full range — grief, tenderness, awe — not just rage.
The Phone as Spiritual Trap
Ryan views the smartphone as a modern Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.
The Apple logo — an apple with one bite — symbolizes the trap.
“It’s like this is the tree of the knowledge of good and evil basically.”
Constant connectivity enslaves; he and his team all have inflated egos from the show’s success, blind to their own pride.
Only someone outside the system (his wife, close friends) can “set your ass straight.”
Glacier App: Privacy Tool Born From Paranoia
After multiple guests joined the Trump administration (some within days of their episodes airing), Ryan feared surveillance.
He sought a “black phone” used by Tier 1 units and intelligence community — found Glacier (~$10k phone + service).
Features: kidnapping alerts for kids, digital footprint deletion/upload of fake footprints in other countries, secure messaging that prevents accidental adds (Signal leak impossible), no data storage.
Ryan negotiated an equity deal and an affordable app version (Glacier App, iOS now, Android coming).
American-owned VPN (unlike many owned by China, Israel, Russia — “digital honey traps”).
Blocks web trackers (830 blocked by 11 a.m. on launch day despite no social media apps).
Burner number service: generate numbers with any area code, burn them when relationships sour.
“For the majority of stuff, it’s going to block 99% of the stuff that comes in.”
Advice to Young Men
“Don’t put your faith in any man. You’re going to be disappointed every single time.”
Be the person you want everyone else to be — the only thing that works.
Self-reflection is essential but insufficient; you need trusted people outside your bubble to see what you can’t.
“It’s not the yes-men… It takes somebody close that’s not inside of it to set your ass straight.”
Has America Lost Its Place as Global Superpower?
Ryan and Tucker discuss historical collapses (Germany 1945, UK post-empire, USSR 1991).
Soft landings (UK, Germany) still destroyed nations permanently — no shared identity, birth rates collapsed, majority of UK births now non-English.
Russia survived because it remained a coherent nation with shared vision; now a great power again.
Two requirements for long-term survival: coherent nation (shared history, language, culture) and dignity/self-respect (not convinced to hate yourself).
U.S. lacks both: no coherent nation, elites import replacement populations, birth rates plummeting.
Industrial employer in Midwest: zero unemployment but zero English-speaking workers; competitor going under from labor shortage.
“You’re gone when you start importing people to replace your children.”
Perpetual war since 1917 serves to distract from bad domestic leadership; foreign enemies (Putin, Hitler, Iran) are convenient bogeymen.
Iran war would be catastrophic: U.S. inability to stop Iran makes it a permanent global power; gas prices won’t recover.
Fighting Wars for Israel
Ryan’s SEAL/Delta friends leaving the military are unanimous: “Everybody knows they’re fighting for Israel. It’s a joke.”
Tier 1 and Tier 2 operators joke openly: “This isn’t even for us.”
Morale improved under Hegseth (DEI removal), but the mission remains foreign-interest-driven.
“Through just throughout history, that’s not a winning strategy… fights out of the dog, buddy.”
Department of War rename: “stupid,” purely performative, “piss people off.”
Corporate Media Lies, Epstein Files, Tariffs
Fox News and all corporate media lie by omission — hiding the full picture (Epstein files, petrodollar, Iran war, schizophrenic Canada policy).
Canada example: U.S. blocked Keystone pipeline, Canada dealt with China, U.S. imposed escalating tariffs (25% → 35% → 100%) for a deal U.S. rejected.
“It’s literally like dealing with a crazy person. Like a schizophrenic fucking crazy person.”
The Christian Revival
Ryan identifies simply as “a Christian” now — politics is dead to him.
He sees a genuine wave of conversion, especially among younger generations and his former special-operations community.
“Addicted to the fight” veterans (30+ years) now diving into spiritual warfare.
Churches are attentive; his young children ask to go, ask about communion.
