I am grateful to a former student of mine, Morris Pelzel, for drawing my attention to an on-line column, with the above title,by Stanley Fish, discussing the views on the relationship between reason and religion of the German philosopher Jrgen Habermas. It ties in with Pope Benedicts proposal that the Church cultivate a "court of the Gentiles" for people who might be aware that they are missing something, or Someone, in their lives. Perhaps both Fish and Habermas would be among them. A dialogue between the present Pope and Habermas has been translated and published as The Dialectics of Secularization.Morris also raised below the question of how such a "court of the Gentiles" might function, especially on the level of the local Church. It is a metaphor, of course, and I take it to refer to the effort of believers to engage with people in search of fuller meaning, brighter light on the mysteries of existence. Any suggestions how this might be undertaken by Christians? Any examples of successful or promising efforts?For myself, I think it would be useful to recognize that "religion" or "faith"and "reason" are abstractions, which Germans, it seems, are particularly likely to speak of as if they were the subjects of thought, desire, reflection, judgment, etc. There are only people, all of them endowed with reason, with some of them also religious,believing, and being so, most of them would say, not unreasonably. Bringing the conversation down from the heavens of abstraction might keep us always aware of the inescapably personal character of the issue, that is, that the issue is not settled without personal inquiry, insight, reflection, judgment, and decision.