I posted this elsewhere. It applies here as well, so I’m copying it.
There is not, nor will there ever be, evidence of ancient Jewish culture found in the Americas. The Mormon “archeologists” that cite otherwise require an ENORMOUS suspension of disbelief. Even so, they obviously have a “dog in the fight”, so they won’t be impartial in the presentation of their findings - a touchstone of scientific methodology.
When an atheist archeologist discovers Jewish cultural remnants in the Americas, then we may need to consider their heretical claims.
Mormonism was completely fabricated by Joseph Smith. He didn’t translate the Book of Mormon from the Golden Tablets. He lost them (seriously, just ask them). Instead, he had to use “seer stones” which he placed in a hat, stuck his face in said hat, and received the true word of “god”. It got hairy when other Mormons claimed to have other seer stones in disputes over who was able to take a young girl as their concubine. “My stone said she was mine!” “No, MY stone said she was mine”.
If they weren’t awarded a “survivor’s complex” due to the persecution the U.S. government sanctioned toward them, they would have gone the route of other hack Christian denominations that popped up around the same time; which is obscurity (Church of Christ of Science, Seventh Day Adventists, Jehovah’s Witnesses, the list goes on).
Mormonism is literally thin air. Completely made-up. If Joseph Smith eventually came to believe the nonsense he was spouting, it was only because of confirmation bias. “Other people are really agreeing with what I say! There must actually be something to it!”
Total Nonsense.
This!