Ignorance is tragedy, especially when it turns someone into a violent maniac. On Friday, August 18th, Laura Ann “Lauri” Carleton was shot and killed after an argument erupted with a customer at her store. The reason for the row? Laura had proudly displayed the pride flag outside of her shop, and this greatly angered Travis Ikeguchi, who decided that the way to resolve this dispute was to include Smith & Wesson into the mix. When the police arrived and demanded he drop his weapon, his 9mm handgun did the talking, and officers responded in kind.

All that remains of this sad, angry man are his hateful social media posts, which spoke predictably of the evils of abortion and homosexuality, care of his faith based upbringing. As for Laura, she was well loved in the community, so much so that film director Paul Fieg wrote about his loss.

“Our wonderful friend Lauri Carlton (seen in this picture) was murdered yesterday in her store @magpi_shop in Lake Arrowhead by a 27 year old man who didn’t like that she had a large pride flag hanging outside of her shop,” he wrote. “He ripped it down and when she confronted him about it he shot and killed her… Lauri Carleton was my friend. She was a wonderful person who did so much for the LGBTQ+ community as well as the community at large. What happened to her is an absolute tragedy. If people don’t think anti-gay & trans rhetoric isn’t dangerous, think again”

These are strong words, but they lack the fundamental element that allows this degree of hate to foment in the first place. You’ll find at the root cause is still religious organizations, and their murderous obsession with making the whole world fit into their narrow world view. It angers me still that everyone always fails to point out the gigantic elephant in the room.