On Talking About Religion: Avoid Interminable Discussions

There is no clergy in the Baha'i Faith. All Baha'is are encouraged to teach their Faith. Yet there are definate constraints upon them when they do. Baha'is are to avoid contentiousness, for example. Adversarial communication, although so common in our society, does no one any good. It certainly doesn't uplift hearts.

...[R]efrain, under any circumstances, from involving yourselves, much less the Cause, in lengthy discussions of a controversial character, as these besides being fruitless actually cause incalculable harm to the Faith. Baha'u'llah has repeatedly urged us not to engage in religious controversies, as the adepts of former religions have done. The Baha'i teacher should be concerned above all in presenting the Message, in explaining and clarifying all its aspects... He should avoid all situations that, he feels, would lead to strife, to hair-splitting and interminable discussions.

Letter of 29 November 1937 written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual Baha'i