Washington (CNN) — Washington (CNN) – Joel Osteen, the popular megachurch pastor from Houston, is the target of an Internet hoax that falsely reported the Christian leader was leaving his church and renouncing his faith.
On a website designed to mimic Osteen’s official website, the pranksters posted “A special message from Pastor Joel.” The post describes the Bible as “a fallible, flawed, highly inconsistent history book that has been altered hundreds of times” and announces that Osteen plans to leave his Lakewood Church.
Osteen and church staff labeled the website a fraud and said the idea that he was leaving the faith was a “false rumor.”
According to the website’s registration, Lucas Skass with BMG Enterprises LLC, who lists his residence in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, purchased the domain name on April 1 of this year — April Fools Day.
Calls to the number listed for Skass, as well as people associated with BMG Enterprises LLC, have gone unanswered.
“I am leaving the Christian faith,” says a big banner near the top of the page.
In addition to the announcement, the website posted a fake screenshot of CNN.com that included a falsified headline about Osteen’s supposed decision. The pranksters also launched an associated Twitter account that has since been suspended.
The website — http://www.joelostenministries.com/ — spells Osteen‘s name wrong and comes with an elaborate disclaimer.
“This site is the property of Pastor Joel Osten and Joel Osten Ministries. It bears no relation to ‘Joel Osteen’ or ‘Lakewood Church,'” the disclaimer reads. “Any implication or relation to ‘Joel Osteen’ and the ‘Lakewood Church’ is purely coincidental. ‘Joel Osteen’ is not in any way involved or related to this site and references to ‘Joel Osteen’ are, again, entirely coincidental.”
In an interview with ABC News, Osteen dismissed the prank.
“You know, I’m really not angry. I don’t feel like a victim,” Osteen said. “I feel too blessed, that life is too short to let things like this get you down.”
He continued: “You can’t stop everything from happening, but you can choose to say, ‘God, it’s in your hands.’ I’m going to move forward. I’m going stay full of joy and I’m going to enjoy this day.”
A spokesman for Osteen told CNN that he and the church are not planning any legal action at the moment.
Though Osteen dismissed the hoax, many on Twitter fell for it and were shocked by the announcement.
Bruce Bean (@Bruce_Super) Anybody visited http://www.joelostenministries.com/ ? Pastor Joel Osteen says he‘s leaving the Christian faith!! Can a person trade heaven for hell?
Mekka Don (8207;@MekkaDonMusic) Joel Osteen leaving Christianity??! WOW http://joelosteenministries.wordpress.com/2013/04/05/joel-osteen-resigns-cites-lack-of-faith-leaves-christianity/
Dot (@dotcash11) Please tell me that Joel Osteen is not leaving Christianity
When one person on Twitter asked Osteen directly whether he was leaving the church, someone managing Osteen’s Twitter account responded by knocking down the false report.
Joel Osteen (8207;@JoelOsteen) @petro6239 It is a false rumor: Pastor Joel is not leaving the church. -JOM Team
Osteen has led the 45,000-person church since 1999, after his father, the founder of Lakewood Church, stepped down. He is one of the most recognizable faces in American Christianity and his ministry says Osteen’s sermons reach some 10 million people a week in over 100 countries.
