Greetings Kalessin! Excellent first post.
The only place where I disagree substantially with you is in your second point, and even then I agree with the substance of your objection, just not the particulars in this case.
Here the author’s own words contradict you. We can’t trumpet his statements about his violent dislike of allegory and then selectively neglect his claim that LotR “is of course a fundamentally religious and Catholic work; unconsciously so at first, but consciously in the revision.”
I personally don't have much interest in finding parallels between LotR and the Bible, but that’s a fairly plain-spoken statement that is tough to deny. Numerous other references in Letters show a clear connection between Tolkien’s works and his beliefs.
As a general observation, I have noticed that many of our members have trouble making the distinction between allegory and mere symbolism or influence. Discuss a striking parallel between a certain myth and LotR, or note an interesting similarity between an historical incident and an incident in Middle-earth, and the knee-jerk reaction is the hue-and-cry of “Tolkien despised allegory!” Okay. We all agree that Tolkien had no overt intention to retell a particular story or to teach or preach in his work. LotR is first and foremost a rousing adventure tale. Good. But that doesn’t obviate inquiries into Tolkien’s mythological, philosophical, spiritual, historical, and literary influences. Based on the author’s own declaration, looking for biblical parallels is a more legitimate inquiry than many others that we’ve entertained here.
Therefore, I say – bring on the biblical parallels! Heap up the interesting influence of Nordic myths! Discuss the effects that Tolkien’s war experiences had on his writing! Speculate about the geographic parallels between Middle-earth and planet Earth! Plumb the depths of the Ring’s symbolic meaning! Why not? It’s all good!
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