SLF3: there is some merit to that argument. However, as pax travelling in blind faith with total trust in those up front, I, and I'm sure many others perhaps including you, would also like to have faith that when the automatics decide to have a bad hair day, and when the desk jockey written procedures are not suitable for the moment, the guys & gals up front will be able to sort it out and ensure a happy outcome. That does not always seem the case. And, don't forget, there are some places where the cognitive skills of hand eye coordination and manual control of the a/c are the only options. Witness St. Marten in the Caribbean. Spend all your life in a B747 into nice big airfields with radar vectors to an ILS all via 'George & his friend Amy-Tricia' then rostering decide to throw you a curve ball and you end up at the end of 12 hours skimming the beach & fence to a relatively short piece of tarmac carved into an island. You need to be able to do it on a regular basis.
I think you'll find it's not the increasing reliance on automation that has had the impact on safety rather the increase in capability of that automation and the huge improvement in reliability of the a/c as a whole; that plus the huge improvement in the overall environment including ATC, radar, ILS, GPS, RNP approaches etc. The days of scratching around on manually flown NDB's in thunderstorms has 99% passed for the large jet boys; thank any god you like.
What this discussion is focusing on is that when basic flying skills are required they are too often found missing. Add to that the notion that some people don't even realise when they are required and still try to solve problems via the automatics and start playing the piano causing very out of tune music. It's not a simple black/white one is better than the other. It is a collective matter. A good pilot needs both skills. Our argument is the balance is not correct.