It read, to me, like "I don't see why medieval monks cared about death since I don't." Then there was the dollop of "I am atheist/agnostic," which again didn't seem to be usefully on topic.
That isn't to say you shouldn't discuss these things, it is an interesting conversation to have... But look at where this comment was placed; on a summary of the article.
The whole thing just felt like something that deserved a place on Reddit's "IamVerySmart" subreddit rather than on Hackernews.
I didn't see anything self-aggrandizing in what was written, merely someone describing how they personally related to both the comment and the article. I can't see a reason why it wasn't relevant since the post above it is basically the same sort of thing, just with different conclusions.
I feel that I should say to people who are downvoting this comment: You're using the downvote as a disagreement, rather than to filter the content you would like to see on Hacker News.
Content on Hacker News should be: relevant, considered, well-written. I don't see anything above that isn't any of those points. Just because you disagree with something, doesn't mean you should downvote it.