Most people have close friends and even immediate family members with different religious beliefs than their own. Are they supposed to prefer a complete stranger of the same faith to their own friends and family? Similarly, why should somebody prefer a foreigner of the same faith to a countryman who speaks the same language and shares the same culture and customs as he does?
Then I suppose all the statements about G-d being the Ultimate Authority for everyone is just empty ritualistic hooey?
I recommend you read the Torah. You will find in certain cases of capital punishment (when stoning is called for) that the family are called to be the first to execute sentence.