Religion

Since the beginning of sentience, there has always been an inborn need to explain the universe and to find some meaning beyond simple physical existence, and more often than not this need flowered into a religion of some form, worshiping a god or gods and usually accompanied with a large amount of stories and parables, as well as explanations of the creation of the universe and the obtainment of the afterlife. As time progressed, the ideals of monotheism and atheistic orders would become more common, though polytheism would continue to survive alongside its' contemporaries, though not quite as prominently.

Though religion was formed as a way of finding solace and obtaining spiritual peace, it came to be used as a justification for war as well: for Humanity on Earth, time and again wars and massacres would rise up because of religious discrimination - ranging from the Spanish Inquisition to the work of Islamic terrorist groups in the late 20th century to the Star Riots of the 2160's - and the Covenant would continuously use its' religion, the Great Journey, as means of which to convict and suppress other races, waging holy wars that would either incorporate the races into the lower castes of society, or drive them to extinction. It was because of these tendencies to at times authorize bloodshed that multiple attempts to completely outlaw religion would be made among the galaxy's races.

For Humanity, there had been numerous governments throughout history that had evoked state religions, leading to either the state or the religious system to persecute those who believed differently, with such instances lasting into the 21st century. However, the true end-all-be-all attempt came in the 2170's, when the fall-out of the Star Riots brought mass protests from numerous anti-war groups, as well as groups of atheists that felt their right to not have a religion was being threatened; numerous attempts and petitions were made and sent to the UEG's Department of Justice, but all proved to no avail, as after the Supreme Court of Justice finally relented and held the infamous “Religion vs The People” case, a 3/4 majority of the Court stated that it could not justify the outlawing of religion among the people, as such was beyond their jurisdiction. Despite the firmness of the Court's statement, several radical groups attempted to kidnap members of the Court and hold them hostage until religion was banned; this attempt, as well as the other violence-based demonstrations that ran concurrently, were all thwarted with the assistance of the Colonial Militia. Though there have since been other attempts to ban religion within the UEG, all attempts have still failed, and an anti-religious movement of such magnitude has yet to arise again.

The anti-religious movement of the Covenant was not only long in the coming, but much more subtle and harder to notice or define: in the aftermath of the Great War and through the Great Schism that followed, the Separatists began to struggle with the lack of any form of spiritual guidance or purpose, a quite prominent facet of their everyday lives that had been torn from them in the turmoil of the Schism. So, while many of the Sangheili questioned whether or not they should involve themselves in religion again, some of the more devout members of the race began introspective vigils, the end result of which was the birth of many of the Great Journey's post-Schism denominations. However, even as a large number of the Sangheili flocked to fill the theological hole within their spirits, an equal number continued as atheists, soon widely known as The Unbound by the rest of the Sangheili.

Despite these attempts at killing religion off, however, religion continued to persist, and thrive even: most of the denominations practiced had survived for over 600 years at the least, with numerous new religions having become popular over the course of the 26th century, some controversially so. Now not only confined to one species, but mixing the beliefs of different cultures together, even more religions and sects began to develop, with the most prominent example being Jitjism, the second most popular religion of the Unggoy, whose tenets combine the Covenant beliefs with those of Christianity, Judaism and Islam, attracting numerous followers from those religions as well.

Theology
By official definition, theology can be two things: 1., the study of the nature of God and religious truth, meaning rational inquiry into religious questions, especially those posed by an organized religious community; 2., An organized, often formalized body of opinions concerning God and man's relationship to God.

Christianity
Starting in roughly 30 AD, Christianity initially was viewed as a radical Jewish sect by the ruling government, the Roman Empire: incorporating belief that Jesus Christ of Nazareth, Judea was the promised Messiah into the Jewish faith, the Pharisees and other members of Judaism's priesthood considered the sect to be heresy and attempted to stamp out the new faith at every turn, an attempt aided greatly by the Roman persecution after the burning of Rome during Emperor Nero's reign. Christianity would survive these persecutions however, and would eventually become the state religion of the Roman Empire during the reign of Constantine: shortly thereafter, however, the empire would split into the Roman Empire and the Byzantium Empire, and the church would likewise split into the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church, respectively.

The precise history and divisions of Christianity becomes more muddy after the split, but the Roman Catholic Church would continue as a the leading force in Europe once the split empire of the Romans fell to ruin. The Catholics would eventually become corrupt, however, with bishops and popes elected by bribery and threats, and underground sects of Christianity as well as Jews were persecuted by the church as heretics, fiends and sorcerers, accused of bringing misfortunes such as the Black Plague upon the people. However, starting in 1517 with Martin Luther's publication of the famous Ninety-Five Theses, the pope's iron authority began to fall apart: the Protestant movement was born, with the denominations of Lutherans, Baptists, Presbyterians and others beginning to crop up across Europe, and while the Church began the Catholic Reformation with the aid of monastic orders such as the Jesuits, Franciscans and Dominicans, the division was irreversible.

Christian denominations would continue to form in the centuries after the Reformation, up into the present even, with the advent of the colonization age causing a need for reform in many denominations, as well as spawning others at the same time. For many denominations, there was little reform, but the Catholic church, particularly its' structured hierarchy, was a major exception: while the Pope was still the supreme authority of the church, archbishops and archdioceses were now assigned to entire planets, bishops and dioceses to large areas (generally continents), pastors and national pariahs to smaller areas (generally countries), and lastly priests and territorial pariahs to the smallest of areas. In addition, the monastic orders of the Catholic church would see a surge during peace time, retreating to little colonized worlds where the orders resided in relative peace.

While the Eastern Orthodox and Anglican Churches would remain almost unchanged over the course of the colonization period, many of the Protestant denominations would either reform or die out: the Congregationalist and Presbyterian denominations would eventually succumb to the pressure of the Uniting Church Movement, a vast expansion of the Australian Uniting Church only aided by Australia's rash of colonization during the colonization period's start, and the two denominations would merge with the Uniting Church, completely vanishing as separate denominations. The Dutch Reformed and Baptist denominations would experience limited growth, the former becoming extremely popular among the population of New Haarlem, the Netherlands' most successful colony, and the latter among several United States and Canadian colonies. The Anabaptist movements, such as the Amish and Mennonites, would practically vacate Earth during the period of 2403-2427, leaving for a handful of remote, wilderness-filled colonies where they would continue to thrive with the bare necessities of technology, normally accompanied by one or two other colonist groups that had already established a few cities.

Ironically, the Lutherans, famous for starting the Reformation in the 1500's by questioning the current doctrines, would find their end during the 25th century due to their stubborn inflexibility on doctrinal issues – the precise issue in question has never been fully discerned, though the fundamental doctrines of salvation, viewing the Bible as a moral fable versus true history, and sin as a social problem instead of an inborn disease have all been inconclusively suggested based on various pieces of evidence. Whatever the cause, the Lutheran Schism wracked UEG space between 2453 and 2462. Initially various heated debates and stalwart demonstrations, the Schism came to erupt into violence, with guerrilla warfare and terrorist tactics breaking out between the Revisionists and the Fundamentalists: by the time the CMA and UNSC responded to the situation, the Lutherans were embroiled in a civil war. Through military actions, the Schism came to a close, but the church was so torn that it was never repaired, the remaining members moving on to other denominations as others had done earlier, eager to flee the divided church.

Despite the reforms and turmoils of the many denominations, people still continued to join Christianity, and with these new members came new ideals, which inevitably created new denominations. The Elementary Church of the Innocent (ECI) would become a major force after its' start in the 2430's, with its' statements that the doctrines and statements of Jesus should be the only force behind Christianity: it's members would become known by their daily meetings, lack of a church hierarchy, and constant evangelical crusades. Similarly, the Chosen of Christ would become a popular movement during the direness of the Great War, the churches of which would gather regularly for long sessions of prayer and communion, believing that the end of time was imminent and that Christ's predestined would soon be taken home; predictably, the movement lost most of its' members after the war's end. Another major denomination to arise in the late 2400's was the Gospel of Truth Church (GTC), which would state that while God had indeed done all the acts spoken of in the Old Testament, after Jesus' death and resurrection he ceased to intervene in the affairs of Humanity; the Book of Revelation was also deemed non-canonical according to the GTC.

Judaism
The oldest, non-Christian religion that is monotheistic, Judaism's beginnings are stated by the Old Testament of the Bible to begin with Abraham and his order from God to go to the land of Canaan, where he made a covenant first with Abraham, then his son Isaac and his grandson Jacob (later renamed Israel) – thus giving rise to the phrase “the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob” or alternatively “Israel”. The tribes that came from Israel's twelve sons – the Twelve Tribes of Israel – would go on to form the nation Israel after being led from slavery in Egypt by the prophet Moses: it is at the founding of the nation Israel that formal Judaism can be said to start, with the first five books of the Bible, called the Pentateuch or Torah, as their book of law.

Judaism would continue to exist, even as it almost wiped out time and again by the agnosticism and paganism that entered the nation through the remaining tribes of Canaanite natives. In time, the paganism of the people would cause a split in the nation, creating the two kingdoms of Israel and Judah – Israel would fall to the Assyrians soon after, and Judah would be taken into exile by the Babylonian Empire within a little over a century. Though they would eventually return after King Cyprus' take over of Babylon, they would never become the nation they once were, and would be conquered first by the Greeks and then by the Romans, scattering them even more. During the time of the Romans, Christianity would become an issue for the Jews as well, as the new religion preached a heresy that Jesus Christ of Nazareth was the promised Messiah of God: the Jews persecuted them when possible, but tables would turn in later years during the Middle Ages when Christians, in particular the Roman Catholic Church, would persecute Jews because they believed that they were bringing troubles upon them.

In more recent years, the three denominations of Judaism – Conservative Judaism, Reform Judaism, and Orthodox Judaism (divided into the sub-denominations of Modern Orthodoxy and Hasidic Orthodoxy) – grew and expanded, particularly on a number of planets founded by the Israeli nation, such as New Jerusalem, Sinai and Tel-Aviv II. However, not only did Judaism grow in followers with the advent of space colonization, but it also gained another sub-denomination, as Conservative Judaism split into Orthodox Conservatism and Rectified Conservatism, the former continuing the centuries-old beliefs of Conservative Judaism, while Rectified Conservatism, appropriately, “rectified” numerous questionable aspects of Jewish beliefs, most notably being that the prophecies concerning the Messiah raising Israel to a mighty nation again in fact refer to the Messiah making them the most powerful space-faring country, greater than any of the others.

Islam
The second oldest, non-Christian religion based upon monotheism is also the third and youngest of the Abrahamic trinity, composed of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, all of which involve similar histories and believe to worship the same God. Becoming very popular within the Middle East, Asia Minor and Africa, and eventually spreading all the way to China and Indonesia, Islam would eventually become the state religion of the Ottoman Empire, which would lead to the Turkish and Islamic influences within Spain, which would in turn spread its influence through much of Europe and then the world.

During the 20th and 21st centuries, the activities of Muslim extremists would become major pieces of the day to day news across Earth, beginning with radical terrorists wreaking havoc upon the Jewish inhabitants of Israel and the much-contested Gaza strip. The conflicts between Judaism and Islam would only rise as the century continued, with the Palestine Liberation Organization coming into existence after the Six-Day War between Israel and Egypt; these extremists would bring a bad name upon the other Islamics, particularly the peaceful Sunni Muslims. When expansion into the Solar system began, and even more so when the UEG expanded beyond Sol, the Judaic and Islamic communities would often disperse to different worlds as if by unspoken agreement; for the most part, this would aid in ceasing expansion of the Middle Eastern conflict, though a tension relationship would continue in the region on Earth once the Israelis gained full control over their contested homeland.

The greatest turmoil for the Islamic faith came during the 2160's, when the Star Riots began: often attributed to starting the Riots, the three major Islamic denominations – Sunnis, Shi'ites and Kharijites – are known to have been involved in a large number of the early conflicts, with in-fighting begun by the Shi'ite Muslims. A group of Shi'ite extremists continually harassed heretical Kharijite Muslims until physical conflicts began between the two factions, with the neutrally peaceful Sunnis falling into the conflict after Shi'ites struck several Sunni communities because they believed they were collaborating with the Kharijites. Eventually, this initially Muslim conflict would boil over into other religious communities to the point of almost throwing mankind into a full-scale civil war; the Star Riots would become infamous – and gain their name – when the mysterious Star cult went to genocidal lengths to insure their survival. Though the CMA and UNSC would restore order and end the Star Riots, the backlash and blame that most of Humanity gave the Islam community dealt it a crippling blow that it did not fully recover from until the end of the 22nd century.

The Great Journey
Predating the formation of the Covenant itself, the Great Journey was the religion of both the San'Shyuum and the Sangheili prior to the meeting of the two races, though each species' method of carrying out the religion was different: when the Covenant was formed, the Great Journey that arose was primarily based upon the religion of the San'Shyuum, heavily involving the search for the Sacred Rings so that they could begin the Great Journey itself – an entirely San'Shyuum creation, as the Sangheili revered the Forerunner technology to the point of only reverse-engineering it in a last resort to fight off the San'Shyuum's keyship, the Ascension.

Throughout the years, the Great Journey quickly became not only the state religion of the Covenant – leading to all other religions being persecuted and eliminated – but it became a method by which to force other races into joining the Empire, as well as a method of subjecting them, such as in the case of the Unggoy. A prime example was when the Covenant encountered the Quelni : when the Quelni refused to give up their own sovereignty and religion for that of the Covenant, the Prophets declared them heresy and executed the entire race, leaving no survivors.

Humanity would become a major problem to the religion, as in 2524, the Oracle of Ascension – the Forerunner AI Mendicant Bias – would inform a trio of Prophets that the Covenant had misinterpreted the glyph "reclamation", which truly meant "Reclaimer". The trio of Prophets, fearful of the San'Shyuum losing their position of power to what could possibly be the children of their gods, staged a bloodless coup, forcing the current High Prophets to step down so that they could take their place as the High Prophets of Truth, Mercy and Regret: these three would then declare a holy war against Humanity, a war that would last a quarter of a century with the Prophets pulling the strings.

In 2552 however, the Great Schism began when the Prophets betrayed the Sangheili and replaced them with the Jiralhanae: amidst the turmoil, the Arbiter Thel 'Vadam would announce that the Great Journey was as false as the loyalties of the Prophets, as told to him by the Holy Oracle of the first Halo. This would spark mass agnosticism, and a rabid search for faith among many of the Sangheili, as well as a peaceful turn to atheism for numerous others.

The Big Three
Among the many denominations that arose from the madness of the Schism, the Path to Ascension would become the most popular of them all, followed by roughly 42% of the Sangheili: nearly identical to the original Great Journey, all mentions of the Halos as methods of ascension were erased, and the Forerunners were simply referred to as holy beings instead of gods, with the Oracles being their scribes, not their prophets. The well-ingrained teachings of the Prophets would take time to eliminate, however, so for quite some time the technologies of the Forerunners and their installations would continue to be seen as sacred places and locations of reverence, if not worship.

The threat of the Shadow World would become very important to the Ascendant Sangheili, and many of the Sangheili Magi – serving the same role for the Ascendants as priests did for Catholicism – would come to decide in the Council of Suban that if good and honorable deeds were done in the name of one who had died dishonorably, their deeds could be substituted for the deeds of the dishonorable one, and with enough work the dishonorable warrior could be raised from the Shadow World and placed within the Purifying Flames of Reincarnation.

Second only to the Path of Ascension, there were the Seekers of the Holy Oracles – almost always referred to simply as the Oracle Seekers – a sect of the Great Journey that, founded by a Sangheili Shipmaster who had found inner peace by a simple revelation, now searches for the Oracles so that they can hear their holy words and find the inner peace their truth provides. Ironically, while the Oracle Seekers still focus on good deeds and an attempt to transcend this life, their transcendence is believed impossible without hearing the words of an Oracle, a position of power that places them almost as the gods of the Seekers, a position vacated by the almost unmentioned Forerunners.

However, making a pilgrimage to find the Oracles would become a major part of the religion, as the enigmatic A.I.'s hid themselves away for the most part after the Great War, forcing the Sangheili to scour the galaxy for them, though many were found to hide on the Shield World of Necropolis. When all-out war came upon the galaxy once again, many Sangheili would flock to the Oracle Seekers in an attempt at gaining spiritual peace before the ever-likely death.

The last of the three major denominations, Kaaranism is a far less legalistic approach to the Great Journey, pioneered by the Kaaranese Sangheili and followed primarily by them: still honoring the Forerunners as holy beings who ascended to the next life and believing that good deeds are the key to this ascension, the sacred regard other denominations place on the Forerunners and their objects is pushed to the side somewhat, the focus lying mainly on good works, positive karma, and deep meditation, among other such things. It should also be noted that, as the religion was founded and primarily followed by the Kaaranese, many of the traditions of Ketesh have crossed into the religion, leaving small but noticeable marks upon the regular ideals of the Great Journey.

Lesser Sects
For many, the defining mark of the lesser sects of the Great Journey is that they are very radical in their beliefs. Of all the lesser sects however, the Labyrinthians, while fitting this definition, do so in a fashion quite differently from others, for while many take the Great Journey to radical extremes that often end in violence, the Labyrinthians take the religion in a completely different direction. Working with sparse knowledge gained both first-hand from a small group of individuals, as well as heretical documents sealed away by the Minister of Solidarity shortly after contact with the Kaaranese Sangheili, the Labyrinthians' purpose is to unravel the enigma of the Labyrinth Array, unlock its' mysteries, then use it to start its' own Great Journey and ascend to the realm of the gods.

Peaceful, unlike most sects, the Labyrinthians are often persecuted by radical Ascendants and most of the other sects, believing their disregard for the Sacred Rings (in the latter's case) and the Forerunners themselves (in the case of the former) compromise their spiritual integrity and brand them as heretics. However, the more level-headed members of the Sangheili see such accusations as little better than the machinations of the Prophets, and stop such unethical acts at any chance.

Often mentioned together, the Acolytes of Devotion and the Governors of Contrition are the most untrustworthy of all the remaining Journey denominations, and the few cases where the two cults – for such they are often called, with good reason – set aside their differences have been extremely dangerous. The records of the two sects actions are remarkably similar, and include a large amount of political manipulation: for the Acolytes, they influenced the actions of numerous splinter factions during the Great Schism, most notably the Covenant of the Silent Whispers, and the Governors likewise staged a Beautiful, Scandalous Night coup of 2559 at the very end of the Schism, taking control of the True Covenant in an attempt to destroy the Human-Separatist alliance permanently.

However, both sects have their differences, for while the Acolytes of Devotion are indistinguishable from the originally Great Journey save their complete denouncing of the Prophets – believing that the Prophets had strayed from the path and perverted the Journey's teachings, but that the Sangheili could "right" the Prophets "wrongs" and continue on the path to transcendence – the Governors of Contrition believe that the Forerunners were the holiest of all beings to ever live, and radically state that all their creations are holy as well, including a belief that the Flood are their perfect creation (as the Flood are falsely believed to be Forerunner creations). However, the methods of both these secretive and radical sects are almost identical, and because of this their activity is closely monitored by the Sangheili government to the best of their abilities.

The Loyal Remnant are a very small sect, frowned upon by many within the Covenant splinter factions, as the simple fact is that the Loyal Remnant still adhere to the original tenets of the Great Journey completely: because this even includes the holy status of the Prophets, as well as the statement that the Halos are still the way by which all will gain transcendence, the Loyal Remnant is most popular among the Covenant Remnants themselves.

Other Covenant Religions
Although the Covenant and its' religious zealots did their best to search out and destroy every last challenger of the Great Journey, several religions would continue to live on within the Covenant society as underground movements, while other religions would simply incorporate the Great Journey to the point that separating the two from each other became a nearly impossible task. The religion of the Lekgolo, known as Singularity, is the prime example of the latter case, as the worm race's karma-based religion – comparable to Humanity's Buddhism – would simply absorb the ideals of the Great Journey into it, till eventually the Great Journey, the Halos, the Forerunners and everything else simply became a part of the other Singularity ideals. The Prophets, at the same time, had no way of crushing the religion, as it was an in-born faith that was practiced by every single Lekgolo since time immemorial; it was because of this, and only this, that the religion continued to survive.

Other religions existed partly because they were practiced in secret, but also partly because the hierarchs could not care less about their existence. The Followers of Kig Yeth was the decentralized religion of the Kig-yar, with the pirates paying lip service to the Forerunners before giving thanks to their own gods later: based around Kig Yeth and seven other gods, the religion had no rules for worship or even a completely clear structure, as the religious details varied greatly depending on the clan and area one visited, with lesser gods and the diverse myths cropping up to contradict each other – among the few constant details are the prophecy of Kig Yeth's Dagger, the breaking of the invincible Fan of Kig-Jepna, the betrayal of Kig-Hoi, and the losing of Kig. For the first two centuries after joining the Covenant, persecution of the Kig-yar religion was a strict mandate of the Prophets, carried out with zeal by the Sangheili, but after those two hundred years the zeal began to slack off, and while the Sangheili would continue to punish any Kig-yar found worshiping their heathen gods, an active search for such worshipers had ceased to exist.

For the most part, the Sangheili followed the laws of the High Prophets and the Great Journey's path to ascension, but even among the devout holy warriors, there were those who disagreeing and practiced their own ways in secret. For many Sangheili, this other religion was simply the Warrior's Faith, a simple ideology that worked well with the soldier's battle-ridden lives: a prayer to the Forerunners would pardon all of their sins since their last confession, which would allow them to pass into the afterlife should they die; a failure to pray meant that one would simply cease to exist after death. The beliefs were simple enough, and the Sangheili would simply pay the higher ideals of the Great Journey lip service as they went about their own combat duties.

However, two other faiths also existed in secret, both of them hold-overs from the days of the Sangheili's past, though not from the same past. The Way of the One was a rather unique religion among the Covenant where the Sangheili worshiped a single god in mannerisms not unlike Humanity's own Christianity: this god was said to have once taken on fleshly form and shown his followers the way to the afterlife before disappearing with the promise to return one day to take the faithful with him while all others were doomed to be forever punished. Those Sangheili who followed the Way of the One would gather once every three days to praise their creator god and ask for guidance in their lives, as well as confess their sins and ask to be forgiven. A number of followers of the Way of the One would emerge post-Schism and become well-known figures, one of the most notable being Jemsal 'Emvadson, pupil of the former Holy Commander Ameigh Broley.

The other Sangheili religion practiced in secret came, not from the Sangheili of the Urs system, but from the Kaaranese Sangheili: these Sangheili's indigenous religion, known as the Bringers of Holy Light, is likely the most mysterious of the Covenant-based religions, shrouded in all manner of mysticism and symbolism; to make matters worse, many of their ideas were mixed into and then distorted by the more mainstream Kaaranism religion, leading to large-spread misconceptions and confusion between the two, distinct forms of worship. For the most part, any formal religion was frowned upon by the Kaaranese Sangheili after the Second Exodus, and therefore the devout Bringers of Holy Light worshiped in secret: however, reverence the spirits of ancestors, as well as belief in nature spirits and use of certain symbols (most prominently the Akht Eraqa), have spread throughout the religious members of Ketesh.

One of the forms of worship within the fractured Covenant had existed on the edge of society for several years prior to the Schism, disregarding the Forerunner's sovereignty for its entire existence. The Masters of Ascendence, instead, worshiped the Precursors, a small scrap of their technology having fallen into the faction's hands: composed entirely of Sangheili and San'Shyuum, it sought to overthrow the High Prophets in the closing days of the war, only stopped by the joint efforts of an elite taskforce led by Ameigh Broley and Amrot 'Sarathee. After their defeat at the pair's hands, reports of the Masters all but disappeared, but it is believed that they still exist as a small remnant, well hidden and biding time for another strike.

Primeval religions would regain popularity after the Great War within both factions, and among the Covenant splinter factions, two would rise to notability, being the ancient religions of the Jiralhanae and the Unggoy. For the Jiralhanae, they began to return to their status as Jiral's Faithful, as it was called, worshiping their war god Jiral and the other gods he enslaved in the ancient Blood War. Little more than a collection of old stories and rationales for their own immorality and desires to war with each other, whether the wars be for supremacy or simple blood-lust; acts of worship towards Jiral consisted of killing a foe and eating his heart, sacking a village and desecrating the chieftain's bed and the graveyard with feces, and, for young males, subduing a female and mating her in what Jiralhanae call the “Dominator's Course.”

The other primeval religion is called Yayipism, and is the most popular Unggoy religion: consisting of the worship of Balaho's north star, Yayip, which the Unggoy have long seen as a personification of a deity, there is very little to the religion other than weekly prayers at either the nearest temple or with a handy Unggoy Deacon. However, those few Unggoy that are lucky enough to see Yayip in person are considered to have reached spiritual perfection, and they will live forever in paradise having done this.

Almost certainly the strangest religion among the highly spiritual Sangheili is not a religion at all, but rather the very lack of it in every form. The Unbound, as they are called, are what most would call “atheistic Sangheili,” and they make up almost a fifth of the entire population: having lost faith in religion and gods with the events of the Schism, these Sangheili determined that they would not follow any form of religious whatsoever. Though still a minority among the Sangheili, a almost completely unheard of among the other races, the Unbound still continue to gain members and are regarded warily, often as a voice of anarchy within society.

Jitjism
Always a controversial figure, the Unggoy Sergeant Jitji is nevertheless critical to an understanding of the galaxy's post-Schism religious structure, as the Unggoy broke down numerous well-built social walls. The deeds of Jitji are always subject to questioning, due to the blurred line between truth and legend, as well as the contradictory nature of some tales: it is known he aided the Arbiter during his final battles on Installation 05, being a part of the strike force he and Rtas 'Vadum led to recover the Shadow of Intent, and it is also known that he both saw himself as a prophet to his people as well as somehow being involved in the beginning of the Second Unggoy Rebellion. According to the tales about him, Jitji is said to have survived both the poison of Sharquoi blood and an attempt by the Flood to infect him before starting the Second Unggoy Rebellion on the Ark and proclaiming himself the messiah of his people. However, considering the fact that neither of the miracle survivals can be proved, as well as that the stories equate “the Ark” with the Portal artifact on Earth, the truth behind these tales is doubtful at best.

Regardless of the precise details, Jitji did indeed start the Second Unggoy Rebellion, which in turn caused the rise of the Unggoy Star Empire, and Jitji also gave rise to the religion known simply as Jitjism. Jitjism, as it was once so memorably put by BCC News reporter Beth Hedges, is “what happens when you throw Islam, Christianity and Judaism into a Covenant blender”; without a doubt the most radical post-war religion to arise, Jitjism is based upon Jitji's own prophetic pronouncements that he claimed to have received in a vision from “the one source of life.” Using his own ideals as a basis, Jitji, and later his follower Jahjah, took key aspects from the other three religions, such as the Christian teachings on love and salvation, the Islamic principles of heavenly rewards and holy jihads, and the Judaic laws. While Jitjism would continue primarily as the second-most followed Unggoy religion, it would gain some followers within the Human community as well.