FWIW, I don't think our friend kosta believes that the Passover was a real event.
I was hoping the Buggs would know we really wanted him in this conversation
True. :) There is no evidence whatsoever, after 40 years of intensive digging by Israeli and other archaeologists, of any trace of Hebrew presence in the Sinai in the time alleged in the Bible. There is plenty of evidence of Egyptian presence there in the same time period.
Don't forget: the Bible claims close to a million people (over 600,000 men) if I am not mistaken. Such large tribes would leave unmistaken evidence of their presence.
Egyptian records, likewise, make no mention of this mass exodus. And Rhamses' son, who occupied Canaan shortly after Exodus, does not take any revenge on the nearby Israelites. Surely, he would have exacted some kind of vengeance on the Israelites if they had been instrumental in brining plagues and drowning his father's army.
There is no evidence whatsoever that Hebrews ever lived in Egypt in those days. If they did, it was in small groups and if any exodus occurred it was not masssive, but more like trickling.
The plagues, while they may have a scientific explanation, are still a stretch. And the idea that God's Spirit would go around smiting firstborn, animals included, is just as un-Christian as it gets.
In other words, sadly, everything seems to point to a popular myth. And popular myths are best tolerated because they play an important cohesive and personality role in many cultures.