The Stories in The Book of Mormon and other Mormon scriptures are based on verifiably factual events

It is clear that my opponent would rather engage in ad-hominem, rather than debate. I will attempt to continue this debate, nonetheless, in the format which I presented in Round 1. Because my opponent has refused to present an affirmative argument, I will simply start the debate. I believe I have been respectful of my opponent, and her wishes of how I refer to Joseph Smith, yet she is implying through her post that I have somehow engaged in insulting her and her religion. It is obvious through my previous arguments that I have not. I have not questioned her intelligence, education, or beliefs, rather I have challenged her to a debate on a website dedicated to the art of debate. It is important to point out that my opponent has engaged in terrible conduct by accepting my challenge as is, and then trying to change the debate itself when what I said was open for clarification was the criteria. Acceptance of a challenge as Pro, especially given my clearly laid out Round 1 presentation, is acceptance of the affirmative as I stated it. With that, my arguments: Contentions regarding the book of Mormon: 1. Lehi and Nephi were contemporaries of King Zedekiah and the Prophet Jeremiah. Both of these are mentioned in the Old Testament, and there existence during the time of Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon, though debated, can be verified through other texts and the peoples mentioned in the Old Testament who are contemporaries of both can be verified through archaeological evidence. http://www.nysun.com... Lehi had a vision of God the Father, Christ, and the Twelve Apostles, and is persecuted by the Jews. http://scriptures.lds.org... Given that this occurred during the time of Jeremiah, a generally accepted Prophet of God in all three major monotheistic religions- Judaism, Islam, and Christianity, and given the fact that Jeremiah engaged in conflicts with false prophets, one would think the mention of such a prophecy would appear somewhere in history that would correlate with the story in The Book of Mormon. Jeremiah does not mention this prophet, whom one would think he would have at least heard of, if not known personally. There is absolutely no verifiably factual evidence of the existence of the Prophet Lehi, and the lack of mention in the Old Testament- whether negative or positive, is a major omission that at least implies illegitimacy. 2. There is no evidence that Hebrew was ever spoken in the Americas. Though the BOM claims Hebrews were in the Americas as early as 2500bc, and another group came later in 600bc, there is no reason for anthropologists or archaeologists to believe any Semitic languages were spoken in the Americas during ancient times. The common Mormon answer to this argument is that many languages have become extinct, and hundreds, if not thousands, of languages may have at one point existed in the Americas, and this possibility opens the door for Hebrew having been spoken here during ancient times. On the surface this seems like a sound argument, however, these Hebrews also wrote in a style of writing called "reformed Egyptian". The absence of proof of other languages is moot when you consider the language in question, Hebrew, was spoken by a literate civilization. Hebrews left an extensive written history in the Middle East. One would think there would be archaeological traces of this same civilization in the Americas, especially considering they waged wars, and lasted in waves over at least 2,000 years. 3. The BOM mentions several technologies for which there is no archaeological evidence to have existed in the Americas during the period of the stories of Lehi to Moroni: Chariots (Alma 18:9), steel swords (Ether 7:9), and silk (Alma 1:29). 4. The BOM makes mention of several Greek names/ words, though Lehi's family left Israel in 600bc: Christ, Lachoneus, Timothy and Jonas. This is important to note because the Greek civilization would have had no influence on the Hebrews by this point. There are many more contentions, but I will move on to the others. Contentions on the Pearl of Great Price 1. The Book of Abraham presents the following as etymology for the name of the land of Egypt: 23 The land of Egypt being first discovered by a woman, who was the daughter of Ham, and the daughter of Egyptus, which in the Chaldean signifies Egypt, which signifies that which is forbidden; The problem with this is that the Book of Abraham was supposedly translated from Egyptian by Joseph Smith. The Egyptian name for Egypt is k-m-t, or Kemet. Egypt is from a Greek transliteration. Kemet means "black land" in reference to the fertile soil, as opposed to "deshret" or "red land" for desert. The Semitic form is Misr or Mitzrayim meaning "the two straits". Another form, Aigiptos (from which we get Egypt) means "below the Aegean". 2. The Book of Abraham was purportedly translated by Joseph Smith from the Joseph Smith papyri. Modern translation of the same papyri have proven inconsistent with the original translation. Both Mormon and non-Mormon scholars agree the papyri are from the Book of Breathings from the Egyptian Book of the Dead, and their translations bear no resemblance to Joseph Smith's original translation. (The Hor Book of Breathings: A Translation and Commentary, Provo, Utah: Brigham Young University; http://content.lib.utah.edu... Klaus Baer) Contentions against Doctrines and Covenants 1. D&C 132 58-66 establish that polygamy is allowed by God. It is now condemned by the LDS. 2. Several sections of Doctrines and Covenants have been removed, revised, replaced, deemed "not revelation, brought back in different sections, etc. I hope to be able to present more arguments, but I think my opponent may need a little motivation. I think these arguments are sufficient motivation for a proper debate. I look forward to my opponent's responses. Thank you.