Page "Heavenly Mother (Mormonism)" Paragraph 20

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.