Belting in Musical Theatre

I've talked to many people about musical theatre and singing and found something near universal that I feel shouldn't be

People think climactic high note=belt

This

Is not the case

And should not be

For example, "Bring Him Home" is a song often tagged "belt" and I've asked some of my friends who aren't well versed in classical music if they'd describe the high A sung near the end in full voice as a belt and they all consistently say yes

But belting

Well you all know this I'm sure

But belting, very simply, is pushing the chest voice in females or the full voice in males into the range of the head voice in females or false voice in males

It's characterized by lack of vibrato, a somewhat strained sound, and very open vowels

It's possible to reach similar heights without actually belting

For example, many classically trained tenors are able to sing a high D in full voice without needing to push it up (albeit it is at the top of their range and therefore still very demanding)

Given that, I find it shocking how many mezzo sopranos and tenors I hear belt every high D and high A that comes their way

Sometimes I get the belting

Elphaba?

Elphaba belts

But

Does Evan Hansen really have to belt?

Like tell me if I'm crazy:

Every single Evan Hansen belts the high A during the climax of Words Fail

A lot of them, including Ben Platt, sing the G immediately after in a noticeably less strained full voice

So tell me

Why would you drop off power

And risk vocal damage

While the instrumentals cut out

And then when they come back in

All of a sudden now you place the high notes in the right place????

I know a lot of them can't not belt that note, but Ben Platt can go higher than that without belting

In a recent tour, I saw Geffrey Cornelius get a nose bleed from the forward vibration of the highest notes in that song

And I think belting is obviously acceptable and a valid way to sing

But I really wonder why all of this belting of high notes is so necessary in modern musical theatre

This is very long winded but I guess my main point is just

How did we get to this point, why are we here, is it because of pop music, and why do people think that any time I use vibrato while singing a high C or literally use any falsetto at all that I'm singing "opera"

Julie Benko is a great belter.......