What does the novel say about humanity’s relationship to religion? What sort of god is Halliday, creator of the OASIS universe?

The idea of traditional religion in the novel Ready Player One is somewhat ridiculous. While there are people who spend all of their time in OASIS churches listening to sermons, it is the OASIS itself that has become a religion.
At first, it may seem that Halliday is a benevolent deity. He creates an Eden in which anything is possible. It is basically free to use, and its possibilities are limitless. The fact that the quest begins on Ludus suggests that the rules of this Eden are based on merit. Merit is earned through nostalgia for a simpler time—when the world was not environmentally brutalized, poverty-stricken, and desperate.
Wade can be seen as the allegorical Eve in this novel in that he constantly strives to know and learn more. Gaining this knowledge, however, causes him to experience alienation from his friends and danger to his life. When he ultimately meets up with Halliday in the end, Halliday insinuates that maybe humanity should leave the OASIS entirely. They have lost the ability to really connect, and the OASIS is a vehicle for corruption more than for freedom.
This suggests that maybe Halliday is not the benevolent, though eccentric, godlike being that he may at first seem. He creates the OASIS to live in the past when he still had a chance with the love of his life. He loses himself in his avatar Anorak by becoming disconnected from reality and diving ever deeper into the development of the hunt. He cut himself off from the people who cared about him, and he ultimately died alone and friendless. His creation of the OASIS was selfish and egomaniacal. All he left behind was a legacy that was entirely about him. The winner of the quest could only be someone who is completely obsessed with Halliday. In a way, Halliday used his creation to force artificial bonds of connection from beyond the grave. The quest suggests he wanted worship, idolatry even. He was willing to risk lives to get it. This is not a kind god; it is a cruel one.