Re Miss Nancy's comments...

Hawking's idea regarding the lumpiness of the universe is straightforward and - IMO - plausible.

If the explosion from the Big Bang had been perfect - and therefore perfectly symmetrical - there would be no chance for the current structures to form.  Which is, I believe, what you were getting at.  Hawking says there's no chance of anything being perfect in our universe and, further to this, he calculated just how much imperfection would be necessary to start the ball rolling.  I don't remember the figure but I do remember it was very, very tiny.

As for non linear time,  we'd have no way of knowing so it's a question that's closer to philosophy than science.  I do know of one hypothesis, published in New Scientist around 20 years ago, which said there's no such thing as time at all.  Every possible event happened all at once.  Sounds daft but there you go.  

Missing matter may be explained by some of the ideas about non baryonic matter, which some physicists believe must exist.  Another idea is the missing stuff has been absorbed into black holes, which seem much to be more common than first thought.

As for a finite universe, I don't see why this can't be the case.  I know physicists don't like the idea of infinity anyhow but according to most recent research, our current models make no sense if we add infinity to the equations.  Of course, that could just mean our current models are wrong.  :)

As for God...

I don't believe simply because I don't.  I'm not looking to prove anything and I don't believe any arguments or theories on either side can ever provide proof one way or another.  I also think that, should a supreme creator exist, it would be so far beyond our understanding as to make any attempts at comprehending its motives ludicrous.

I never found God and then rejected Him.  This may be a surprise to our American members here, but most Brits don't believe in God.  We're very much a secular country and the few who do believe are generally regarded as being a bit weird.  I'm not making this up, btw.

My own stance on religion is, Live and Let Live.  My wife is a Christian and her dad was a Lay Preacher.  It's never caused any conflicts and I can't imagine it ever will.  I also have several very devout friends from various faiths and I can't imagine us ever parting ways over religious differences.  Same thing applies here, too.  There are a lot of people I regard as friends here, all of different faiths.  I can't see I'd ever stop regarding them as friends just because they believe in a God and I don't.

Coppula eam se non posit acceptera jocularum.

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