The article deals mostly with mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) studies, but I plan to also write one that deals with Y-chromosome DNA studies, where there is clear evidence of Middle Eastern contact with the Americas. Watch for it.

I hope you post this, rather than just ignoring it.

Secondly, the dishonesty of the film may not be readily apparent to people who aren’t familiar with both the Book of Mormon and a few of the scientific disciplines it tries to mimic. At 45 minutes into the video, Murphy makes a comment that is instructive. He points out that the Book of Mormon mentions “wheat” and “barley.” This got very interesting because until about 20 years ago, this was a very common criticism. You don’t hear it quite as much today because barley has been discovered in pre-Columbian settings. I thought it would be unlikely that Murphy would be unaware of the barley discovery so I paid close attention to what came next. He said, “We don’t see wheat. We don’t see uh…..” subject change. Even though half of his argument in that statement is invalid, he tries to imply that it isn’t. Consider how they handle the idea of horses.

Anyone familiar with the Book of Mormon can see that the “horse” discussed in the Book of Mormon doesn’t have the same use as the old world horse familiar to everyone. The Book of Mormon horse is never ridden. Not one reference to it indicates that it carried a rider. 3 Nephi 4:4 implies that these horses were used for meat –clearly not a Hebrew custom. The video points out that Mormon defenders have suggested that this was a name given to indigenous animals (similar to the Romans having named a water mammal they found in Africa a “river-horse” hippo (horse) potamus (river). The video discounts this possibility, saying: “stories of riding horses into battle could not have occurred.” See how they slipped that in? There is no account of anyone riding a horse in the Book of Mormon–into battle or anywhere else.

In trying to demonstrate that this is anachronistic, the video even highlights a passage from the Book of Mormon: “their land is full of horses” without telling the audience that this is a quotation from Isaiah, not a description of Book of Mormon lands. That’s deception.

Their real paradigm, however, is reiterated time after time–and it is merely the atheistic paradigm of the anti-Christ Korihor in the Book of Mormon: “Behold, ye cannot know of things which ye do not see; therefore ye cannot know that there shall be a Christ.” That theme is repacked in the video, by apparently the same author: “If there is no evidence, it could not be true.”

That idea is as devastating to faith in the resurrection as it is to the Book of Mormon. It’s also dishonest. The video implies that the major problem with the Book of Mormon is that since no specific sites can be demonstrated where this occurred that the Book of Mormon must be false and the Bible is consequently true–because they know where the miracles of the Bible occurred. If this were true, our critics would have no trouble accepting the Doctrine and Covenants since we can pinpoint on a map not only the city, and date but very often the precise room. But, as always, there is one standard for Mormonism and a different one for orthodox Christianity.

I have given you the facts. Shown you how the Book of Mormon is not rooted in truth. Shown you how the very thing that Joseph Smith started Mormonism with is untrue. Although I love you and pray that you are one day freed from the heresy that binds you, my time to help you is not infinite. I have given you the truth and must move on to many other affairs that must be tended to.

I pray one day you know the truth of Jesus Christ and reject the lies of Joseph Smith. I’ve given you enough to get started if you are willing.

My proof is my testimony. Now I do realize that demons can heal people and stuff like that, but I am certain that these mighty acts that have been worked by God in my life are not the work of demons, because 1) I have always prayed only in the Name of Jesus Christ and 2) I have always strictly adhered to the Bible to the best of my knowledge and ability. And #2 is key. I said “to the best of my knowledge”, well, my knowledge was lacking because my religious background was a Pentecostal “church” that filled me with false doctrines and practices. Over the past couple of years, God has been revealing to me how much of that stuff was a lie (pretty much all of it) and has been pulling me closer and closer to the Bible. And you know what? The miracles have not stopped, but they have increased! Now if I was not following God before and my “blessings” were coming from demons, then they should have stopped when I began to more closely following the Bible. Or if going against the Bible and after false doctrines and traditions (stuff like the Book of Mormon) was PROOF that the Bible is not good enough, then my going back to the Bible would have diminished the blessings and the miracles. But no, I was blessed before though I was not following the Bible because though I was in error, my heart was right and I still had faith. And now that I am following the Bible AND my heart is right, I am being blessed even more. So Steffielynn, here a link to a document giving my testimony that lets me know that God is real, that He exists eternally in Tri – Unity of the Will, the Word, and the Spirit, and that the Bible alone is the Word of God. And let me tell you: this document is over a year old, written back when I was still adhering to my false doctrines and stuff. LOTS more blessings have happened to me since I let that junk go. So please, read this document, and let me know if you have ever seen or experienced anything like this in your own cult.
http://healthelanddevotionalarchives.wordpress.com/2007/03/01/testimony-time/ I really do need to start writing down some more of my testimonies just for the specific purpose of answering challenges like these.

I have more facts that dispel the terrible untruth told to you by Joseph Smith. Please have a look at this:
Joseph Smith’s Official First Vision Account versus the facts.

Also, Joseph Smith was not able to keep the lie straight, because he made up numerous variations of his invented vision.

Now lets acknowledge that Joseph Smith was a great deceiver, accept the Jesus of the Bible and follow him in a Jesus centered walk as detailed in the Bible.

@17, there is no such thing as a “Mormon Christian”. Mormonism is a cult invented by Joseph Smith, Christianity is the truth and you should follow the Jesus of the Bible and trash that Book of Mormon garbage.

I love you enough to tell you when you’ve lost your way in a cult. If I hated you, I’d say nothing and allow you to suffer the fate of following a cult, without a word.

“But even taken on their own scientific terms, the tests cannot do much to identify who is and who is not Native American. This is because they yield many false negatives and false positives (they readily misidentify non-Native people as Native, and misidentify Native people as non-Native), and the positive results they do yield at best are only probabilities, not certainties.”

These are the words of an actual, qualified, non-Mormon Molecular Biologist. If the science cannot produce certainties, yields “many false positives and negatives,” and “cannot do much to identify who is and who is not Native American,” how on earth is it reliable enough to determine who is or is not of Israel, or who is or is not a descendant of Book of Mormon people?

Food for thought!

The concept of genetic testing to prove Native American ancestry is one that is discussed more frequently in recent times, but there are many problems with the idea. Perhaps foremost of these problems is that to make a genetic test the arbiter of whether someone is Native American or not is to give up tribal sovereign ability to determine membership and relations. But even taken on their own scientific terms, the tests cannot do much to identify who is and who is not Native American. This is because they yield many false negatives and false positives (they readily misidentify non-Native people as Native, and misidentify Native people as non-Native), and the positive results they do yield at best are only probabilities, not certainties. If these were medical diagnostic tests, they would never be approved or adopted. (Quoted from the document cited in my just previous post)