much too uncharitable and [...] not sincere
This is a blind-spot for me, and honestly is the reason I tried to get some smart people together to talk. I know it's uncharitable, and I feel like I'm strawmanning my opposition, yet I just can't seem to wrap my head around how this viewpoint even exists. The panel didn't help much with that, but that was mainly my fault.
You're the host, your introduction primed the debate on religion, which is among the least interesting aspects (to me), and made Brin talk about monasteries later on. Thanks ...
I'm also uninterested in the religion aspect, but I was trying to tie it into the con's theme of atheism/religious-skepticism. It's how I pitched it to PZ in the first place, so I didn't feel I could abandon it once the show started. If I didn't think it was necessary for inclusion in the con I wouldn't have bothered.
note - this is without having watched the video:
The technical meaning of "I don't understand" is "I do not comprehend the processes by which this thing (in this case death-ism) occurs." It's an invitation to explanation, for the sake of increasing your own understanding.
However, in rhetoric, the meaning often alters to "I am so strongly opposed to this viewpoint that the very fact that anyone considers it valid dismays me. The viewpoint is in fact so ridiculous that I doubt anyone who subscribes to it can give a coherent explanatio...
The video archive of the talk is available here
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pm-5s__aZE0