Joel Osteen hoax

On , some of Osteen's actual followers wrote to say they weren't fooled by the hoax, while others sought clarification from the pastor. His social media feeds and verified websites have made almost no mention of the hoax.

A of the fake site was taken down Monday afternoon, replaced by a message that its operators had violated their terms of service.

A for the registration of the fake "Osten Ministries" site reveals that it was created on April 1, 2013, and registered to an entity listed as BMG Enterprises in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. At the time of this post, an email to the contact person listed for the site had not been answered.
Source: Pastor Joel Osteen Is The Target Of A Complex Online Hoax by BILL CHAPPEL
And there was the bogus Cambodian Midget Fighting League, which duped some British newspapers to publish stories about the "tragedy."

Lakewood officials declined to say whether the church would pursue legal action against the perpetrator of the hoax. But if they did sue on grounds of libel or slander, it could be a difficult legal fight, a Houston attorney said.

"There are protections for parody and satire, but the issue is whether a reasonable person would believe that the publication was indeed satirical, or a parody of something," said attorney Charles Babcock. "The question is whether things being put out about the church could be deemed as defamatory."
Source: Joel Osteen target of elaborate Internet hoax  By Robert Stanton
No God worth believing in is going to send you to Hell for not believing in him. Not even the worst sinner and scum of the Earth deserves eternal torment in Hell. In fact, God is more likely to congratulate you upon entering Heaven for doubting, questioning and not believing the religionists and their flimsy facts, demands of blind faith and lack of hard evidence.

The fraudulent quote went on to make Osteen sound like an anti-Obama activist and pro-environment champion, saying, “What we have to focus on now that I’ve left the faith are the immediate issues at hand that affect us in the real world. The destruction of our environment by multinational corporations, the poisoning of our food and water, the toxic fluoride they have been putting in our water for 50 years, the toxic GMO foods that the Monsanto corporation is responsible for, Obama’s many destructive policies and his administration’s attempt to dismantle the 2nd Amendment. These issues will be what I will begin to focus on, so long as the media does not completely shut me out.”
Source: I quit: Joel Osteen target of elaborate hoax Ads by Google