First, thanks for the link it is a great find.
I do not think anyone is questioning that many people interpreted Genesis literally throughout church history. While you also had a strong stream following Augustine and Origen who interpreted the Genesis days figuratively, it is interesting how even the ones who interpreted the day literally were very happy to combine literal and allegorical meanings, they were much more at home with allegorical meanings than our modern literalists. Nor was there the conflict between the literalists and the ones who saw the Genesis days figuratively you see today. If you look at the footnotes Bede keeps quoting Augustine's 'Literal Interpretation of Genesis' (DGAL) where Augustine presents a very figurative reading of the text. Yet Bede seem quite at home quoting Augustine, very different from modern creationism which keeps claiming non literal interpretation is a deception adn denies the word of God.
Assyrian, what you say here is close enough to what I think that I will not quibble about it.
Modern YECs, I think, differ because of the feeling of being threatened, especially by science and by modern aggressive, even triumphal, atheism (atheism is, of course, ancient, but the aggressive form of it, I think, began only in 17th or 18th century Europe with the rise of deterministic scientific models of reality). YECs attacks on science engender counter attacks, many from atheists who have done little to discourage the false belief that the theory of evolution leaves no room for God.
The paranoid feeling of beseigement has become institutionalized in creation "science", an ersatz imposter possible only among those who have no understanding of what science actually is. Not only is it institutionalized in creation "science", it is also a self regenerating social and cultural phenomenon, and it does tremendous harm to Christianity's prospects among the unconverted.
This is why the metaphysics of sophisticated YECism can be useful. It achieves the complete seperation of science and YEC faith. A sophisticated YEC is no longer impeded by the belief that he is confronting something diabolical from learning what science actually is. He can learn that science is not out to "get" Christianity, that the theory of evolution is not something that was designed for the purpose of destroying Christian faith. With the paranoia in abatement, it would be possible for something like respect for both the literal and figurative interpretations to exist in a YEC Christian as you suggest was possible in earlier times.
I would leave all mockery, ridicule, and belittlement of YECs to the aggressive atheists. Christians should do whatever they can to encourage an understanding of science in YECs in a way that is not threatening. That is why sophisticated YEC can help, as can, of course, the encouragement of a metaphorical understanding of Genesis, if it is possible. The thing is, sophisticated YECism does not challenge the YECs
religious faith, so it cannot be seen as threatening.
The casuistic ("it was settled 157 years ago") baggage in the term "omphalos" is not helpful. It may not be as bad as "innocently" speaking of black people as "n****rs", but we are moving in that bigoted direction with the term. Try respect for the people developing a metaphysics which can solve the problem we have from creation "science" today.
For those who have a problem with the metaphysics of sophisticated YEC, I suggest reading
The Capricious Cosmos by Joe Rosen, a professor of physics at Tel Aviv University. Professor Rosen does not espouse the metaphysics of sophisticated YECism, but he makes it clear that it is "as good as" any other (emotionally generated labels like "insane", "crazy", or "absurd" notwithstanding). For a look at how weird the metaphysical ideas of physicists can get, try
Parallel Universes by physicist Max Tegmark. A universe like the universe of sophisticated YECers exists under the fourth type of parallel universe considered in Tegmark's metaphysics. If it is not beyond the Pale for a physicist to speculate this way, why should the same metaphysics from a YECer be scorned? Finally, for those who like the meat of a little mathematics, physical chemist Jim Baggott's
The Meaning of Quantum Theory outlines quantum mechanics, the theory which, along with Einstein's theory of relativity, started physicists on the journey of deep metaphysical speculation which makes physics today the field whose practioners are most likely to be involved in leading scientists back to religion just as they led the movement away from religion in the 17th and 18th centuries.