I had never thought that Halo was about religion at all. It includes a lot of Christian names and themes and even includes a religion of its own. I always felt like that was used more as a backdrop to tell the story of Halo.

8:12 Jesus did not say "all those who draw the sword". He said "those who LIVE BY the sword". HUGE difference there.

You my friend need much more recognition for the work you do

In its base halo is the perfect example of how no matter how developed you can become. If the base of your foundation is weak and instead of correcting it if you keep on perpetuating the flaws in your ideology. You will end up losing everything. And its shocking how our current world is exactly showing the hallmarks of such things occuring where religious fanaticsm has brought the ruin or has created hurdles in creating harmony among different religions but also create fractures in single religions also.

First, an excellent point about both the Prophets and the Elites only truly hitting that critical juncture, not when their faith is directly challenged, but when their sociopolitical status is directly threatened. Truth's name is peak irony because truth doesn't mean shit to him. Overall this is the best part of Halo lore imo. It is so much more terrifying to me that a major alliance of spacefaring species is being manipulated into committing genocide simply because those in control are terrified of losing their position than the alternative reason of genuine holy war. It's one thing to be caught up in religious fervor and to commit evil out of genuine fear, even if it's ridiculous, but the idea of an inner circle political effort subverting their own beliefs to cover up a truth that would naturally supplant them is something that as a kid made me feel very uneasy, and now as an adult is my greatest fear in America. I can absolutely see a theocracy being implemented in this country and its upper echelon of leadership being fully aware that it's mostly bullshit and just a convenient way to eliminate any and all opposition. I don't want another civil war, but I would absolutely condone and participate in violence against any faction or coalition that would drive this country into some archaic and/or nationalist bullshit.

His whole constantine thing was silly as hell

Halo supports religion and deliberately integrates certain fundamental truths that aren't obvious, part of why its symbolism is so powerful is because it basically returns certain religious symbols to form and is an opera about rejecting corruption, apathy, and understanding the glory of the individual in larger endeavors Some of the fun examples are a bit on the nose when you start to learn them. For example, lets look at the two main protagonists and the roles that bungie gave them. Arbiter: one protagonist has the player overthrowing abject "usurpers" (i.e., the "arbiter" being the soul that "judges" the "covenant" because of the evils that have 'usurped' their original promises, most important of which being a general responsibility for prosperity for their peope) in a redemption story Chief: John, 117. A messenger of god. 1:17 is an innuendo to mix Moses (the man that splits the water...calls back to Noah indirectly, savior of the flood...cmon now) and Jesus (humanity's savior that performed miracles beyond our comprehension) Chief is blessed with no other skill than "luck" in series, another innuendo to his place being higher in the universe than those around him ('Divine' * "foresight" * or *blessings* if you will) I havent watched your video but i appreciated your thumbnail, ive always loved the topic, and if you'd ever like to talk deeper about this subject it is DEEP in lore and other esoteric stuff - both in universe and in our real world. If you'd like to talk about this stuff I love this topic and would share mire in the future. Ill watch your whole vid in a bit, but know i wrote this out and liked it to support it regardless of if I agree with your interpretations of a theme most dont even see as significant

Critiques religion yet praises the military industrial complex. Halo never stated anything beyond its world-building, I wouldn't say it's a "critique".