Throughout my journey to find truth in this chaotic world of disinformation, I have relied on many different sources. As a “Truther”, I am often drawn to YouTube due to the amount of information that many YouTubers are able to convey in a short amount of time. I don’t normally stop there though. I always like to continue to dig deeper to ensure that I am getting as much of both sides of the story as possible before forming my personal opinion.

One of the many searches that I often find myself typing into the YouTube search bar is “Shane Dawson conspiracy theories”. I am not a big fan of much of his other content just due to my personal preference, but Shane has got an incredible ability to take even the most outrageous “conspiracy theories” and breathe a certain breath of credibility into them. Even if I don’t always fully agree with where Shane goes with his theories, I can always appreciate the fact that he uses his incredible platform that he has (almost 10 million YouTube subscribers) as an avenue to get people to look at things from a different perspective.

Essentially that is what a “conspiracy theory” is—a theory that usually pushes against the “official narrative”. Often, by doing so, brings to light a completely different purpose for why things happen the way they happen in this crazy world we live in. I have found out through trial and error that many conspiracy theories often become “the way it actually happened” or much closer to truth than the original narrative when looking at both sides of most situations.

Yesterday evening, I began my normal routine of scanning some of the different YouTube channels I often rely on for entertainment (and whatever “truth” I can get from it). As normal, I looked to see if Shane had released any new conspiracy videos. To my satisfaction, he had! His newest video is titled “Heaven and Hell Theories” (I will link the video at the bottom of this article). This instantly piqued my interest since I am a follower of Christ and believe that both Heaven and Hell are very real. I commenced watching the video, in a skeptical mindset, similar to how I normally would when viewing other people’s points of view on things that I hold close to the heart.

I am not going to elaborate a whole lot on the video here—Shane is more than capable enough of explaining it himself, but I do encourage readers to check it out. While watching this video, I found myself hitting the pause button, time and time again, to discuss the content with my wife (who is also a “crazy conspiracy theorist”). I often do this when watching videos or reading articles. I find that if I pull away from the content, even for just a short amount of time, it helps me to take what the person is trying to present and see if, and how, I can apply it from my own perspective. It is also a way for me to attempt to wrap my mind around a message being delivered by a more intelligent person than myself, which happens way more often than I feel like it should.

After, approximately, the fifth pause break to address the content at hand. My wife and I sparked up a conversation on our personal beliefs on what happens when people die. In doing so, my wife located a very interesting article (which I will post at the bottom of this article as well) on said content. It is an article discussing what the Bible says about what happens when we die. As a follower of Christ, I always use the Bible as a source of information.

The article that our conversation led us to, including the Bible scripture that the author references, gave me a very different perspective on what happens when our human shells cease to live, and also details what happens to our eternal spirits. I am still young in my faith, so I found this information incredibly interesting and am being completely honest when I say that I knew far less on the subject beforehand.

Many people throw YouTubers under the bus as not being “viable” news sources. These, quite often, are the same people that throw mud at Truthers for being nothing more than “conspiracy theorists”, because mainstream media said so. I fully agree that there is a world of (dis)information around us that any person can use to support whatever narrative they would like to believe in. What I do have to say in defense of YouTubers like Shane Dawson, thanks for all the conversations that you have started within my own household that have led to better understanding of many subjects in this world that are actually pertinent in today’s society.

This article is not designed to change people’s minds on things that matter to them, or to push my own beliefs. I would love to bring the masses to the unending love of Christ and his Father in Heaven. My main purpose is to get others engaged in things that actually matter in our world. God will present himself to ones that seek Him.

I am a student of the inner workings of our world—I am not a scholar in the classical sense. So please keep in mind, I do not deliver any message from a “scholar’s perspective” and it is seldom for me to take a definitive stance on much of anything in an ever-changing world. My intent is to get others to think about the many issues of our society and to work together to try to figure out solutions by working together as God intended.

*Note: Through much personal research, I believe that the Bible in circulation today has had many opportunities to have been edited and modified by man, which is why I encourage others to always include prayer with any research that you do to ensure that God helps you see what it is the He wants you to see.

I wrote this article inspired by this video below and an article I read titled Do We Go to Heaven When We Die (linked)

The views expressed by our contributing writers are not necessarily that of Ghion Journal. We present a dissection of ideas that serve to engender conversations and to prod a broader conversation as long as the topics are not divisive or pit one group against another. The search for truth might never bear fruit, but the first step to discover truth is knowing when you are being lied to.

Tags: Bible, Conspiracy Theory, David Burton, Ghion Cast, Ghion Journal, Heaven, Hell, life after death, Truthers, What happens when we die