Wacky Web Games
Prankster calls elaborate Joel Osteen Internet hoax an experiment in "viral media"
"Pastor of mega church resigns, rejects Christ," read a CNN headline. "Osteen: 'I am no longer a Christian,'" proclaimed another on the Drudge Report. The Christian Broadcasting Network and Yahoo! touted similar news.
But you won't find evidence of these articles online or in print. They were all fabricated as part of a recent Internet hoax involving Houston mega pastor Joel Osteen.
Someone with a bone to pick and a lot of spare time played an elaborate ruse on the Lakewood Church televangelist, creating a fake Twitter handle (@PastorJoelOsten), a fake website (www.joelostenministries.com), a YouTube channel and a WordPress blog dedicated to the "special announcement."
The real charismatic Lakewood Church pastor says he found the elaborate Internet hoax "so comical."
"[D]eep down in my heart, for a number of years now, I have been questioning the faith, Christianity and whether Jesus Christ is really my, or anyone's, 'savior,'" writes "Pastor Joel" in an "official statement" dated March 29.
"I believe now that the Bible is a fallible, flawed, highly inconsistent history book that has been altered hundreds of times. There is zero evidence the Bible is the holy word of God. In fact, there is zero evidence 'God' even exists."
The fake Osteen goes on to point out environmental degradation, "toxic fluoride" in our public water and Obama's attempt to "dismantle the Second Amendment" as his new focus in life, thanking his wife, his parishioners, and "close friends" Oprah Winfrey and Larry King for enduring support.
The real charismatic Lakewood Church pastor said he found the elaborate Internet hoax "so comical."
Osteen told KHOU Channel 11 News in Houston that he discovered the news through text messages from friends in South Africa and Australia. "I thought, 'Wow, something big is going on here,' " he said.
But the joke had a silver lining for the mega church: Lakewood added double its average amount of Facebook friends and Twitter followers in the past seven days. "You honor God, and God will take care of the rest," Osteen said, laughing.
The prankster, meanwhile, has come forward to state that the pastor "seems like an infectiously nice and genial character."
"I would like to state unequivocally my intent was not to defame Mr. Osteen," the anonymous hoaxer wrote in an email to NPR.
He goes on to explain his aim was to "test viral media markets" and to influence the pastor to "do away with the soft 'positivity' and cliche-peppered Sunday messages and use his high visibility to address more serious social issues."
Watch KHOU's full report: