I don't know if any explicit influence came from deism, but I think the detached nature of the Valar is quite reminiscent of Deism (and aspects of Roman Catholicism, for that matter.)



I also agree with this. I am not entirely educated on the concepts of deism, although I am willing to learn more as it is a very interesting notion. I do not know of any aspects of Roman Catholicism in this matter, but I would also be more than willing to learn.
Anyways, as Bry stated well, I think that detached is a very appropriate word for this subject. I know that those who believe in the Judeo-Christian God can feel quite exasperated and like they are banging their head against a wall sometimes. (Or is it just me!) Help that is asked for and not given can be quite exhausting. This is the reason that I brought up deism in the first place. Try to imagine what the men and elves of Middle-Earth felt like! They had been fighting wars against the dark powers for thousands of years, which wasn't exactly going great. In fact they were loosing. Continual attempts to entreat the Valar to intervene fell on what should be considered deaf ears. But if a deity is to be considered deistic in nature, then this is what has to happen. A deistic(is that a word??!!) god or goddess will not help earthly inhabitants in this sort of religious matrix or system. Why not?