The whole discussion about 'determinism' vs. 'free will' assumes that
cause and effect it true. There is a traditional logical error called 'Post Hoc' (Latin 'After here') which is essentially about assuming cause and effect. Just because event B always follows event A does not 'prove' that event B is
caused by event A. They could both come from a single common cause that you are not able to see. David Hume observed that even in the physical world of the senses you cannot see the
cause of one object moving another by physical contact. You can observe the event but there is nothing in sensory data that tells you how and why it happens.
As you are finding with the discussion of time, it's a bit difficult to get a handle on a universe that doesn't rely on linear time.
But regardless of what the universe 'really is', if what we perceive as 'time' is not real the whole issue of 'determinism' vs. 'free will' is moot. Our 'will' could very well be included in whatever force(s) create the universe as a whole (from whatever 'external' perspective these forces act from) and so we have pre-determined ourselves by our own freewill.
[ March 22, 2003, 20:35: Message edited by: Baron Munchausen ]