I relate to it a lot. It is weird to hear your church leaders encourage learning, and working to better the world and yourself on one hand, and on the other have people from your religious community questioning your commitment to faith because education.
Once I had a lady, an almost complete stranger, tell me I would never get married if I got my PhD because, "no self respecting LDS man would want to marry someone with more education than him."
I've had multiple people (LDS and not) tell me that science and faith are incongruent, and that eventually I'd have to give one up.
A dude - RM, sunday school teacher - stopped dating me because he "wasn't comfortable with my ambition."
People at church act scandalized when I say I probably won't change my last name if I get married. I just make it worse when I try and explain that I intend on keeping my last name for career related reasons.
Others outside the church have commented about how surprised they were that such a rational person could belong to such an archaic faith.
Others outside the church have commented about how surprised they were that such a rational person could belong to such an archaic faith.
It is hurtful that people feel like they can judge my spirituality OR my 'smartness' based on outside perceptions of what I'm choosing to do with my life (religiously or academically). It speaks to a larger problem that is pretty wide spread - we need less judging and more seeking for understanding. We need less 'I know what's best for you' and more 'I trust you to make the best choices for you'.
That being said, a lot of people are very supportive and excited with me about my work. And I need to be better at letting them. Like the woman who wrote the blog in that link, I too often am silent or downplay what I'm doing.
For those of you interested, here is a website that offers support/community/advice to women in the LDS church who aspire in many different ways: http://aspiringmormonwomen.org
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