Here is a very thoughtful post, which I thought I should answer in my blog; I also posted much of what follows as a comment to the post. (Via InstaPundit.)

This very articulate blogger -- Phil Bowermaster -- maintains that death sucks, and he is right (although he says a few things with which I must disagree slightly.)

Death sucks.

Some say that dying is as natural as being born. I say, so what? Vomiting is as natural as eating, but I happen to like eating a lot more.

Some say that death is a part of life. I contend that, by definition, it is not.

Some say that death is the threshold to the next stage of existence. I say maybe so. But this stage seems to have a natural built-in aversion to the threshold to that stage, and I'm going to go with that.

Many believe that the fear of death is a primitive relic, a lingering superstition. Fear of death, they will tell us, is what originally led humanity to irrational thinking. We invented gods and spirits primarily to assuage this fear. Now we live in an age when rational thinking might once again hold sway, although irrationalism persists all around. To differentiate themselves from the irrational throng, rational thinkers proudly state that they are not afraid of dying.

....

Those who claim to have no fear of death, whether they be an Objectivist or the Dalai Lama or some Palestinian strapping dynamite to his chest, have lost touch with a primary truth of human existence: a truth which has lead us both to science and to faith.

It's true that death sucks, but sometimes, so does the fear of death.

And sometimes, so does life!

Fear of death may be a healthy motivator, but it can go too far. To live each day as if it were your last -- yet at the same time not live in fear of death -- that strikes me as an ideal. Healthy fear is good (I am not recommending suicidal lifestyles) but wasting too much time fearing the inevitable can prevent the enjoyment of life, thus calling into question the value of fearing its loss!

What I cannot stand is to have self-appointed "leaders" like Leon Kass lecture me or anyone else on the need for a "natural" lifespan, how the "dignity" of life is to be defined, or the immorality of extending it any way I might want.

If it isn't my life, then it isn't my death. No one really ought to assign values (or fears) of either -- other than the person living or dying.

While I don't mean to sound too morbid, I lost twenty friends to AIDS and this stuff was much "in my face" for years. This forced me to develop tougher-than-normal death calluses -- and a sort of gallows humor.

At times, I have found it most beneficial to turn off the natural fear of death. Far from missing out on anything, I honestly feel that I gleaned new insights -- and (quite paradoxically) saved my life, which I now value more than I did before the experience.

With all respect to the wisdom of Phil Bowermaster's excellent post, I do not agree that negating the fear of death causes one to "lose touch with a primary truth of human existence." It brought me closer!

(On the other hand, those who claim falsely to have no fear of death only confirm the truth of the Mr. Bowermaster's assertions, for obvious reasons. Their fear -- as evidenced by their dishonest denial -- is infinitely greater than those who admit the fear honestly.)

I also have to disagree on a very minor point (but one with obvious relevance to Classical Values): vomiting was once combined with eating, and considered quite pleasurable!

In the minds of believers in God as well as in the minds of atheists, the fear of death is considered a major reason for religion. People who believe in God often assert that only God has ultimate control over life and death. I see no logical reason why the concept of death should bring them into conflict with atheists, or anybody else. Because as they admit themselves, God is in control of the entire process, and therefore, whatever happens was meant to happen as Ordained by God. That would include whatever life extension measures any individual wanted to take. To interfere with that -- in the name of God -- strikes me as coming awfully close to substituting their judgment and their will for the will of God. (One might as well argue that an individual has no right to take penicillin for an otherwise fatal illness lest he "interfere" with "God's plan.")

So, the people who would tell me when God would have me die are doing precisely what they accuse me of doing if I wanted to extend my life.

Except unlike me, they aren't minding the business of their own lives.

UPDATE: I just found this in Phil Bowermaster's blog:

I believe the struggle that's shaping up in this world is going to take place between those who believe that we should be defined by our limits — and who have restrictive and pointless notions as to what those limits are — and those who refuse to be so defined.