I think I finally get where this is coming from. What do you think my position is on the issue?
I would assume that your atheist icon puts you in the minority position. Furthermore you personally feel compelled to "evangelize the cause" on a "Christian" website no less. I'd say that puts you in a fairly unique category actually. By your logic it makes you a "slackjawed hillbilly" on the topic of God, simply because you're outside the consensus of the rest of humanity.
We listen to those who have demonstrated that they know more on the topic.
Well, unlike you I do not believe that "ignorance is bliss". I actually spent over seven years listening to them. They actually told me things like electrical discharges cannot occur in plasmas, and plasma redshift had not been observed in the lab. In the case of plasma redshift, I was actually gullible enough to believe them too. Apparently plasma redshift HAS been observed in the lab, and even THAT "faith" I had in them wasn't actually justified by the scientific facts. After awhile one starts to "lose faith" that they actually know more about these topics than I do.
Unlike you I've studied these topics as an adult now for over 35 years. I understand not only THEIR theories, but many other ones as well. I've chosen one I PREFER over their theory because it's based upon pure empirical physics, and it requires no new forms of mass or energy to explain the workings of the universe. What it has PREDICTED for a very long time now is the fact that plasma redshift is a real physical process that occurs in nature and explains the Hubble constant.
Since you really have no clue about the history of cosmology theory, or the importance of redshift to various cosmology theories, let me clue you in just a bit. You might not care one iota, but maybe someone reading along might actually listen and learn something about cosmology theories.
When general relativity theory had been "accepted" by the mainstream to some degree, but was still in it's infancy, Einstein had one remaining problem that he wrestled with. At the time "static universe" theory was the prevailing cosmology beliefs. Astronomers of the time assumed that objects in space were relatively static. All the objects in space had their place, but galaxies were thought to be the same distance from one another.
General relativity had one small problem from Einstein's point of view. It didn't really lend itself well to a "static" scenario. It tended to "predict" either a "contracting" universe, or an expanding universe, but not really a "static" one, where everything stayed in place. To help explain what "force" might help prevent gravity from causing the objects to begin to contract, he introduced a "non zero" constant into GR. Up to that time, the constant existed in the GR formulas, but it was always set to zero. The non zero constant that Einstein entertained wasn't actually "explained" by Einstein. He just noted that a non zero constant (some other force of nature) could help explain why the universe was static rather than contracting or expanding.
Edwin Hubble then came along and noticed a very curious thing about light from distant objects. He noticed and observed the fact that light was "redshifted", it had lost a small amount of it's kinetic energy. Furthermore he noticed a pattern related to distance. The greater the distance, the greater the redshift/loss of momentum of the photon. Today that is known as the "Hubble constant" or "Hubble's law".
That "redshift" was "interpreted" by astronomers in different ways since that time. Static universe proponents proposed "tired light" explanations for that redshift. In other words, they "predicted" (an important thing in science) that light would be affected by the plasma and/or space as they traveled through spacetime. The net effect was a transfer of kinetic energy to plasma in space, and a small loss of kinetic energy in the photon, with a greater loss over a greater distance. That basic concept is called "tired light theory".
Expansion proponents however had a different "interpretation" of that redshift. They proposed the theory of "expansion" as the 'cause' of that redshift. At the time nobody was 'sure' about the exact amount of expansion, but the idea had appeal to some point because "doppler shift" had been observed. You "hear" that effect as a train passes. There's a limit however to how much "redshift" one might explain with that effect however which comes into play much later.
When Einstein heard all this, he believed he had made an error by introducing a non zero constant into GR. He realized that if the universe was expanding as many astronomers were coming to believe, then it wasn't necessary to have a non zero constant in GR anymore. It could be set to zero again, since objects in motion will stay in motion, and that will create a "stable" configuration in GR without any non zero constants.
He called the idea of a non zero constant his "greatest blunder", set it back to zero and embraced an expanding universe. That's pretty much how he left things until his death. Keep in mind that nobody at that time knew for sure just how fast the universe was expanding, they just ASSUMED it expanded, hence the redshift.
There's one small "problem" with a "doppler", or movement oriented explanation for "redshift". Nothing can travel than the speed of light according to GR theory. In theory then, nothing can "expand" faster than the twice the speed of light (1 C in opposite directions).
When the "expansion" proponents began to realize that an expansion explanation for redshift was insufficient to explain the amount of redshift observe, they started a "religion". They began to claim that it wasn't the objects that were moving, it was "space" that somehow magically expanded. Furthermore they failed to even physically define "space". Spacetime is defined in GR theory, but SPACE has no physical definition in GR theory. DISTANCE has a definition in GR, as do objects and "spacetime". Space isn't physically even defined by GR theory. It can't magically 'expand', and even a "non zero" constant wouldn't necessarily mean 'space' must be expanding. Furthermore no such thing EVER occurs in the lab, so there went any advantage it had in terms of empirical physics.
Now of course "tired light" theory never went away, it just wasn't the "popular interpretation" for a time. It's weakness for a time was the fact that no such plasma redshift has been observed in the lab, at least not yet. Technology has changed all that today however (and it turns out for quite some time actually). Plasma redshift has now been observed in the lab. What was once on a "prediction" and a "weakness" of tired light theories and many plasma cosmology theories which I prefer, has now turned into one it's 'greatest triumphs" in terms of pure empirical physics, and in terms of "validated predictions".
The importance of that observation in the lab is profound. No longer is it necessary to "believe" that the universe is accelerating, it's not even necessary to believe it is expanding at all. It's certainly not necessary to believe it is expanding faster than light speed! There goes the need for every BB theory every created. We could very well be living in a static universe as astronomers of 60-70 years ago once believed. Nothing is "certain" anymore, and in fact the tables have turned on expansion theories. The more LIKELY cause is simply "plasma redshift" since that process has now been documented in the lab.
Unlike you, my "lack of belief" in mainstream theory isn't based on ignorance of history, nor ignorance of theory theory, or ignorance to other theories that have existed in astronomy for the past 70 years. My position is based upon KNOWLEDGE whereas your position is based upon blind ignorance and "blind faith" in ONE idea you hardly even understand, only because some "scientists" told you a nice creation story.