Until today I have never heard of the Telepathy Tapes, given that I don't listen to podcasts that aren't on ESPN, and certainly not to Joe Rogen, that isn't surprising. How did I learn about The Telepathy Tapes? First Fruits of Zion's Messiah Podcast in Februrary of 2025 hosted by Daniel Lancaster endorsed them and a concerned former Torah Club member shared the link with me.
What are The Telepathy Tapes? This review was the best one I could find: The Dangerous Charm of The Telepathy Tapes January 27, 2025 by Chloe Walker. In short, The Telepathy Tapes claim that autistic children, with the help of a parent 'facilitating' "demonstrated his ability to read thoughts, and reported spiritual insights and messages from God." (to quote Daniel Lancaster).
Wait a minute, why is a pro-Torah keeping organization endorsing the idea that autistic children all have miraculous spiritual powers? The answer, it turns out, is simple: They believe this idea will support Jewish mysticism / Kabbalah. Given that FFOZ leans heavily into mystical interpretations of scripture, anything that seems to support that idea is good news. "If the claims presented in The Telepathy Tapes (TTT) are true, they have major implications for science, philosophy, education, psychology, neurology, anthropology, theology, religion, and faith. They also have compelling parallels to both Jewish mysticism and apocalyptic Jewish texts like the New Testament." - Daniel Lancaster (emphasis mine).
In his article, it is clear that Daniel Lancaster buys into The Telepathy Tapes premise all the way: "the existence of telepathy is only the beginning. The listener is quickly catapulted into a world of spiritual revelations reported by the non-speakers. We hear about the pre-incarnate existence of the soul, spiritual beings like angels and demons, revelations from heaven, revelations about heaven, trips to heaven, conversations with God, conversations with Jesus, conversations with departed souls in heaven, visions of the future, precognitive declarations, clairvoyance, divine healings, and many of the spiritual elements typical of reports from those who suffer the classic Near Death Experience." - Daniel Lancaster
As someone who has met Don Piper (Author of 90 Minutes in Heaven), and who hosted him at my church to share his Gospel message, the key issue at hand here is not the possibility of spiritual insights, but that the particular insights Lancaster is so excited about are ones that confirm his pre-existing belief in Jewish mysticism {See: Beginning of Wisdom (Torah Club) lesson #37: More Gnostic Dualism, pre-existence of the soul, and extra-biblical reliance} and is doing so by using vulnerable non-verbal children and their parents as props.
A brief explanation as to why this particular false teaching from FFOZ bothers me so much. When I was in middle school an autistic two-year-old first came to my house after school. My mother ran a daycare and this boy was displaying the signs of severe autism. In the beginning, he was non-verbal and prone to violent fits. Until he graduated high school (the school workers who helped him over the years were amazing), he was at my parents' house five days a week. I taught him how to swim in our pool, holding him through his initial terror at the water, and celebrating when he quickly learned to love swimming. He and his older brother were ushers at my wedding. I'm a better person for having known him, and I love this man who now is in his late 30's.
Children with disabilities, and their often desperate parents just trying to find hope and comfort, are NOT to be used to further economic, political, or religious agendas. These are children of God, and they deserve better. What The Telepathy Tapes is doing is morally unacceptable, and First Fruits of Zion piggybacking off of its popularity is grotesque.
I'll end with another couple of quotes from Lancaster that highlight just how dangerous it is to follow the First Fruits of Zion down their unorthodox path, "Christians will also find the content of TTT troubling, albeit for different reasons. Some non-speakers openly discuss spooky and off-limits subjects like reincarnation, communication with the deceased, and other ideas that invoke New Age mysticism." - Daniel Lancaster.
Yep, we have a problem with elevating the supposed authority of these "spiritual communications" when they are just as likely to promote Eastern Religious beliefs like reincarnation (which apparently doesn't bother Daniel? No idea what he's thinking there by mocking those who find it to be "spooky and off-limits"). That's what set Don Piper apart, whether or not you or I believe that his vision was genuine, his words about it were 100% orthodox in support of the Gospel. By their fruit you will know them. Daniel doesn't appear to be much concerned that some of the fruit of supposed autistic "telepathy" is rotten.
"In view of the sharp as-yet unexplained rise in autism rates, we should be asking, what is God doing in these last days?" - Daniel Lancaster
Well, at least he isn't blaming autism on vaccines. Instead, Daniel offers up the explanation that autism is a sign of the End Times. {And Boaz Michael wonders why I don't just drop my work exposing their teachings. Answer: This! This right here.}
"The Telepathy Tapes...get to the core of what is means to be a spiritual being here on earth, existing in a physical body while in relationship with God and one another." - Daniel Lancaster
Beware of the guy who tells you that a hoax that takes advantage of autistic kids and their parents is at the core of understanding life here on earth.
