The whole argument is that Jesus and other writers referenced Genesis 1 inliteral fashion, and the detailed use of "day and night" sound literal. I always tended to go along with this.
But while much is being made of this, don't forget other literal sounding terms such as "THREE days and THREE nights". Most of the same "orthodox" scholars and believers (including perhaps all the fundamentalist "literalists") hold this to be figurative of basically, parts if three days. That's the only way to get "3 days" out of Friday evening to Sunday morning. But "days AND nights" made it sound so "literal"!
Also, one of Daniel's propecies mentions "2300 days", and I remember reading that it literally meant "evenings and mornings". Yet this is not interpreted literally either. For one thing, it was said to refer to evening and morning offerings, and on top of this, it's usually interpreted as 2300 years.
And then, the arguments about the firmament. The notion of an actual dome is now dismissed as nonliteral, because current observation obviously speaks against it. Yet the notion of the water above (with the floodgates" allowing it through) sounds just as literal as the 6 days, and the only thing you have to go against that is observation.
geocentricism is another one, and there are actually "Geocentric" sites that say the same things you are saying about those who "Put more faith in apparent observation than in the literal Word of God".
Now, Dr. Walter, If I saw correctly, you were arguing for a literal 3 days and nights? I had peeked at some of those threads, and that's what it looked like, but you would think it would be the other way around: that you took the traditional view, and Chowmah and the others would take the 72 hour view, since many sabbatarian groups take that view.
So if I saw right, over there, then this point will not mean anything to you, because you would be consistent with it. Still, it goes to show that this whole thing about non-literalists not being Christian, "attacking" Jesus and the Word of God, etc. is way off base. That because, the issue is not quite as clear as you think it is.
The whole "Jesus referenced 6 literal days, so if you don't believe it, you don't believe in Him" arument falls, because He also references three days and three nights, and whether you take the nonliteral view of that or not, most scholars and orthodox and fundamentalist do. So any argument about the faith of a Genesis nonliteralist would hold for them as well.
Even if you try to argue that context determines a nonlieteral reading of the other instances, still, the point it, it is possible for people to not be aware of the context. So the argument shoudn't be on how much the terms are used, and then assumed to be "literal". The debate is whether there might be a context