They entered the synagogue to worship, yet exited to mourn, after 11 were shot and killed in the deadliest attack against Jews in our nation’s history. The words, “Kill all Jews” rang out through the synagogue as the gunman fired into the masses.

Also last week, federal officials intercepted more than a dozen pipe bombs mailed mostly to Democratic politicians, CNN and even Democratic actors and celebrities. The suspect, Cesar Sayoc, reportedly had a list of more than 100 people to whom he intended to send packages, according to NBC New York.

Sayoc was, according to reports, frequently outspoken against Democrats and liberals, and was contemptuous against those who did not support President Trump.

In southern Mexico, a weary caravan of thousands of migrants pushes on to our country, seeking to claim asylum from the troubles of their own countries. Some Americans want to open our doors to them and help them integrate into our diverse demographics, while others see them as invaders seeking to offset our economy and potentially our democracy.

Look to social media, where Facebook community groups and pages have been taken over by those seeking votes for their causes; whether that be Proposition 2 for medical marijuana, Question 1 for education funding or Proposition 5 in Orem for the Palos Verdes housing complex. And on each side, people are passionate about their values and can, in cases, spew venom against those who do not align with their stances.

We’ve had a very arduous past few weeks leading up to the midterm elections. With just a few days left to Election Day, we call on everyone to exercise civility and compassion to all, no matter what side of the debate you stand on.

We’re not trying to say to not have passions or causes to stand by. But we are saying that demeaning others and filling the airwaves and social media with uncivil messages is frankly un-American. Our country is filled with people who have a wide range of religious beliefs, ancestries, political alignments and world views. To belittle one view because you believe that yours is intrinsically better and therefore others are undeserving of sympathy is just wrong.

We have means of expressing our passions in a civil, thoughtful manner. It’s called voting.

We understand that many feel underrepresented by their legislators and don’t believe their needs are being met. Utah is notorious for being one of the most deep red states in the union, and a proposition is on the ballot to specifically help voting districts feel more empowered and less outweighed. Because let’s be real, it makes no sense for St. George to share a congressional district with Woods Cross and Salt Lake City.

But putting gerrymandering aside, we voters are given tremendous power to enact change in our government. If you haven’t taken the chance to send in your ballot yet, there are a few days left and of course, you can go to a polling place on Election Day to make your voice heard.

Committing hateful acts of violence against others is never the appropriate way to make your voice heard. Americans will never be truly indivisible so long as such hateful acts continue to divide and sever our country to the point where peaceful discord will not happen.

That being said, our nation’s leaders need to take the task to condemn such acts of violence and not use such tragedies as political talking points. The tragedy in Pittsburgh is not an opportunity to re-emphasize the “Good Guy with a Gun” argument. Must we insinuate that every place of worship be patrolled by an armed guard? Is that the America we’re now in, where we can’t even worship without the threat of violence ever looming?

Our local and national leaders are appointed to represent us. We would hope our representatives do not envision a future in which armed guards are positioned at virtually every corner.

We hope instead that they find ways to reach across the aisle and pave new roads for open discourse, because our country can hardly tolerate any more hate as is.

We understand the passions swirling around the midterm elections. But regardless of how elections shake out after next Tuesday, we’ll all be around Wednesday morning. We have to work together as a unified nation to make that a brighter morning, rather than a darker dawn.