The SEME (Search Engine Manipulation Effect) is real.
Now let’s work on the “ SEME (see me) NOT,” or avoiding SEME, part.
The first and most reliable way is to turn daily to Scripture. Is your opinion of right and wrong
wavering? Go to the Bible. Do you see your kids questioning what you say? Take them to the Bible. It has passed the test of time. It will be reliable in this test also.
Beyond the Bible, the easiest way is to not use Google Search as your search engine. I use Norton Safe Search, which doesn’t prevent manipulating responses to searches but provides security from some viruses, etc. I have found items on Ask.com that seem to be blocked from view on other search engines. DuckDuckGo.com has been recommended, but I find it a tiresome way to search. You may find others that work best for you.
I don’t know if it makes any difference, but it may be a good idea to use a different browser if you are now using Google Chrome. Try Firefox or Microsoft Edge.
Are you still with me in my “what if” scenario about Google’s ability to turn Christians away from believing in God? If so, you might be a little frightened. You might think you’d recognize the biases and disregard them. You might believe it could happen, but no one would bother to do it.
Please keep in mind your kids (and you) will have no idea it is happening unless you do regular CHECK THE ALERT SIGNS assessments. It is subliminal. It exists below the threshold of consciousness.
How do you check for something you are not conscious of? The best way will probably be a change in how your kids talk about certain subjects. Keep in mind, leading you and your children away from a belief in God does not have to be directly against that faith. It can be against the lifestyle that is God-pleasing, which will be a path away from God. I cover this extensively in my book Who’s Got Dibs on Your Kids?.
If you discuss abortion, do your kids’ views of promiscuous sex seem more permissive? Do they begin to think that having to care for a child in their teens would be too hard? Do they accept abortion as a suitable way of dealing with a problem (not the life of a baby)?
Do they begin to talk about how socialism and “free stuff” is a better way to be governed than capitalism?
Do they accept the values and principles of Critical Race Theory?
If these all sound like political ideologies rather than religious ones, consider what is at the heart
of all of them. It is easy to see the conflict between God’s Word and promiscuous sex and abortion. But how do socialism, capitalism, and Critical Race Theory fit it?
Our love for God and love for others will lead us to be concerned about those in need. However, it is our personal actions, not the government’s duty, that must be foremost. How do free college, so students don’t have to work to pay for tuition, and government checks when you stay home that are larger than if you were working, line up with God’s attitude of how to structure our lives?
For you yourselves know how you ought to follow our example. We were not idle when we were with you, nor did we eat anyone’s food without paying for it. On the contrary, we worked night and day, laboring and toiling so that we would not be a burden to any of you. 2 Thessalonians 3:7-8
. . . and do not give the devil a foothold. Anyone who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with their own hands, that they may have something to share with those in need. Ephesians 4:27-28
For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: “The one who is unwilling to work shall not eat.” 2 Thessalonians 3:10 (Emphasis mine.)
Now consider Critical Race Theory from the perspective of a believer in salvation through Jesus Christ. If we are children of God, we should not be, nor should we consider ourselves, oppressors. Neither should we consent to a status of oppressed. Here are selected verses from Galatians chapter 5:13-15, 19-23
You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.
The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
Satan would jump up and down and clap his hands if he could get you and your kids to walk on his paths away from God. Through the cleverness of human beings, he can use the search engines to subliminally do just that. We all have a free ticket to heaven. Pray we don’t tear it up and walk the paths Satan paves for us.
