Kingdom Principles

r Chapter Ten K INGDOM C ONCEPT #7 U NDERSTANDING THE K INGDOM C ONCEPT OF C ITIZENSHIP T he most awesome power and position of national priv ilege is citizenship. Citizenship is the most valuable asset of a nation and is not easily given because of its power and impact. All governments defend the right of citizenship with the same fervor because of its implications. Citizenship is not membership. Religions function on membership, while nations and kingdoms function on citizenship. In recent months immigration has become a hot topic in some parts of the world. For example, there is rising concern among many Western Europeans that the continuing influx of Muslim immi grants from the Middle East will soon transform the entire religious, social, and cultural complexion of Europe. Recent sectarian riots in France over unemployment and in many other European countries over the publication of “blasphemous” cartoons of Muhammad have revealed that little cultural assimilation among those immigrants has occurred. Of even greater concern, however, is the spectacle that has been going on in the United States over immigration. For months, debates have raged over the status of millions of illegal aliens, mostly from

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