Interesting question. I've read Ellul's The Presence of the Kingdom (I'll be posting a review of it on my blog soon). There's good stuff in there, but of course, there's a lot of error, too. I read Neil Postman's book called Technopoly and found it helpful, too (along with his Amusing Ourselves to Death). It seems that many Christians aren't in the habit of thinking about the affects of technology (aka, technique, not just electronics) on faith and the Church and the way we live our lives. Of course a wrong conclusion that could be drawn from these kinds of works is that technology is morally wrong, or sinful, in and of itself. I think Ellul made the helpful note that technology is not an end in itself, it is a means to an end. But if we make technology an ends in itself, we become enslaved to it. Not sure if this touches on your question . . . sounds like your friends are asking good questions, just coming to a wrong conclusion.

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Casey, Chicagoland, OPC