Heavenly Mother (Mormonism) - Controversy Around Sacred Silence

Controversy Around Sacred Silence

According to historian Linda Wilcox, Heavenly Mother "is a shadowy and elusive belief floating around the edges of Mormon consciousness". Though the belief is held by most Mormons, the doctrine is not actively advertised by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, though Heavenly Mother is sometimes mentioned in talks or sermons in Sacrament meetings and in Sunday School classes. The topic is most often consistent with the theology discussed above.

The lack of focused teaching and more information about her has caused speculation among Mormons that lack of information may have a divine purpose, to avoid drawing attention to her and to preserve the sacredness of her existence. In 1960 an LDS seminary teacher (which is not a church authority) published in an LDS encyclopedia that “the name of our Mother in Heaven has been withheld” because of the way God the Father’s and Jesus Christ’s names have been profaned. Whether he is the source of the idea or is reflecting a prevalent belief is hard to say.

While no General Authority has made an official statement denying belief in a Heavenly Mother nor stating that her existence is too sacred to discuss, several factors may influence the current trend that sees even a mention of Heavenly Mother as treading on forbidden ground. Members take their cues about what is acceptable doctrine from talks of General Authorities and official church manuals and magazines, and these materials rarely mention Heavenly Mother directly. The publicly discussed church discipline of feminists like Lynne Kanavel Whitesides, Maxine Hanks, Janice Allred, and Margaret Toscano, all of whom were disciplined in part for statements related to the Heavenly Mother, adds to the general sense that discourse about her is strictly forbidden. However, Brigham Young University professor David L. Paulsen has argued that such a belief finds no official backing in statements by church leaders, and that the concept that the Heavenly Mother is consigned to a "sacred silence" is largely the result of a relatively recent cultural perception.

Though church president Gordon B. Hinckley said the prohibition on praying to Heavenly Mother in no way “belittles or denigrates her,” some feel that it makes her seem less important to our eternal lives than Heavenly Father. Others assume that both heavenly parents are equally important and expect that more will be revealed when we are ready. This question ties into a larger set of questions among many Latter Day Saints about power in relationships between men and women. When asked why God said that Adam would rule over Eve, Hinckley said, "I do not know... My own interpretation of that sentence is that the husband shall have a governing responsibility to provide for, to protect, to strengthen and shield the wife. Any man who belittles or abuses or terrorizes, or who rules in unrighteousness, will deserve and, I believe, receive the reprimand of a just God who is the Eternal Father of both His sons and daughters."