Call No Man Master, and Emphatically Not in Heaven

“As Friends we seek to do away with violence both in seed and branch, in language and in deed. Should it be our goal then to do away with every vestige of master-submission patterns among ourselves, and consistently oppose them in the world at large? Unfortunately this seems not to be possible. A notable example can be found in adult-child relations [….]

But we can oppose all permanent human hierarchies of profession, class, race and sex by refusing them submission or even the recognition involved in titles of address (“hat honor”) as did early Friends. We must “call no man master” on earth, and emphatically not in heaven, if we are to realize the full implication of our name: ‘No longer do I call you servants… I have called you Friends’ (John 15:15).”

— Gracia Fay Ellwood, 1988
Quaker educator and activist