I did some programming once, got in to it, even went to university to do Computer Games Technology so learning about the Computer Games Industry and how to design and create games. I didn't quite have the same grasp on it as the top people on the course who had been programming since they first started walking (ok, maybe a slight exaggeration but you get the idea). Plus, I really struggled with Object oriented Programming, my head just couldn't program that way even though I understood the theory of it. I ended up dropping out of the course because I struggled in the group project and realised that in the work place I doubt i could cope with it all and ended up moving on to doing Accountancy, which i got my degree in.
Anyway, back on topic, I agree on the deity aspect because there aren't really Gods involved.
As for warping, ok, but I think it should be along the lines of wherever you are at the point the isalnd goes out of sync with the rest of the world, all the nearby lights simply cease, in effect, creating a sphere of pitch black darkness around you obscuring you completely from sight and then it simply just fades away rather than something forming in the shadows like you suggested. Would that be ok with you?