Automation is your friend. Dependence on it is your enemy. I try and hand-fly at least half of departures and arrivals, and use the autopilot+FD for the other half. At one point I was flying so many manually that I felt my proficiency at manipulating the autopilot was slipping. It's all a matter of perspective. You've got to stay sharp at both. In a high workload environment like rough wx with aircraft malfunctions, automation is your friend because it frees up brain cells to do more important tasks. It's not a one or the other arguement. My company highly encourages hand-flying, but also expects proficiency with the autopilot.