A friend of mine has met her first "mormon basher" and doesn't quite know what to do.  How would you answer?

Why engage a "mormon basher" in the first place?  If a person wants to know the truth we will teach him/her that there is only one way to obtain truth. Most "bashers" I have encountered weren't looking for the truth--all they wanted was to criticize. I may be wrong, but the impression I have is that such individuals only want to pile up a bunch of flawed arguments against the restored gospel. My experience shows that people often do that as a feeble and always unsuccessful attempt to justify their own flawed lives or their worldly standards.

How about writing your friend some of your thoughts about Korihor? He sure looks like an ancient role model for "mormon-bashing" friends--teaches people to not believe the gospel (Alma 30:13), to disobey commandments (verses 17-18), and accuses prophets of craziness or wrongdoing (verses 16, 23, 27-28).

Take another look at Alma 30 and write a "discussion" to your friend. She may not want to read the Book of Mormon, but she will read your messages (including any scriptures you include in them.) And unmask the tactic of he colleague; tell her the religious debate is not a sign of religiosity. If convenient, tell her (in your own words) the point I made above, that "individuals [who] pile up a bunch of flawed arguments against the restored gospel ... often do that as a feeble and always unsuccessful attempt to justify their own flawed lives or their worldly standards."

And as far as reading the Book of Mormon without believing in it, I guess that's the whole point of Moroni 10:3-5--we read it to find out whether it is true. If a person really believes in God and loves him, he or she can't afford to not know whether the book is true. And once one finds that the book is true, then all the anti-mormon argumentation will dissipate like the morning fog under the sun.