Christopher Hitchens

Bill Maher

Christopher Hitchens and political satirist Bill Maher had a large number of debates together and were considered to be great friends, despite the fact that they were at each others throats in a few of their debates, particularly the ones that centered around the Iraq War. However, they did largely agree on their views of religion and their seeming contempt of what it has done to the world, especially in the Roman Catholic Church. Bill Maher's popular TV show, "Real Time with Bill Maher", was the center of many of their debates, as Hitchens was a mainstay on the show throughout the first eight seasons. His first appearance coming in 2003, during the first season, while his last one came in the 8th season in 2010. This last appearance marked his 7th one on the show.

Their debates extended all the way from the effects of the Iraq War, in which Hitchens defended the move by President George W Bush, while Maher heavily criticized Bush for placing troops in a pointless conflict, to the coverup by the Roman Catholic Church of the molestations that were happening in the church. Both Maher and Hitchens agreed in one of his appearances that Christianity and Islam are the most dangerous religions, while Buddhism is among the least dangerous. In a tribute by Bill Maher upon the death of Christopher Hitchens, Maher stated:

"Over the break, we lost a hero of mine, a friend and one of the great talk show guests of all time"

...before proceeding to show a montage of all of the best appearances of Hitchens on the show: