Pastor Joel Osteen has been the target of an elaborate hoax. The perpetrators of the hoax used Twitter, YouTube and other social media to spread false rumors that the pastor had renounced his faith and intended to close his church in Texas.
The story is untrue, according to The Houston Chronicle.
Osteen began receiving calls and messages from all over the world on Monday, asking if he was aware of the fake web sites.
"It is a false rumor: Pastor Joel is not leaving the church," read his Twitter feed on Monday, after his staff posted in response to the rumors. That post may have further ignited the hoax, which began last week.
"We saw it as being comical because it's so ludicrous, but sometimes things like that can catch on," said Osteen, talking to MyFoxHouston.com.
The hoax was complex, complete with a fake Twitter feed that has now been suspended and a website that duplicated the look of Pastor Osteen's official site, but with only one "e" in the pastor's last name in the URL address. The web site received so many hits that is was unavailable on Monday afternoon from overloaded servers.
It was later taken down and replaced with a message that the user had violated the terms of service though it is now back up and running. A domain search for the registration of the site shows that it was created on April 1 and registered to BMG Enterprises in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, giving the appearance of being an elaborate April Fool's prank.
"I am leaving the Christian faith," began a letter posted on the fake site. The impersonator continued to write, thanking his wife, his congregation, "the State of Texas and my close friends, Oprah Winfrey and Larry King, for all of our support over the years."
The site even included reactions from Osteen's congregation, such as, "We'll pray for him. He's come under the influence of the devil," which the site credited to a twelve-year-member of the church named Margaret Samson.
The hoax was further incited by a YouTube video that mocked images of the websites for news sites CNN, Drudge Report and Yahoo!, all with headlines declaring the false news that Osteen was leaving Christianity. The video came from an account held by "Christianity News" that appears to have been set up earlier this month.
The hoax convinced many, between the fake web site and the fake Twitter, and resulted in reactions ranging from congratulatory to expressions of sadness.
Many of the actual members of Osteen's congregation took to his Facebook page to say they were not fooled, while others requested clarification. The pastor's social media accounts have made almost no mention of the hoax, but continue to be updates with official church messages about spiritual life and God.
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