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Anything that helps you to move forward with your writing is a good thing, so we should use whatever works for us. I do think that generating ideas from a theme has merit, but I also think it has more potential benefit if you actually explore it rather than simply assume it is right. It is often cited that a story must have conflict*, and one way you can create that is to try and contradict your theme(s). This not only helps to add depth to you story and your theme, it can also challenge your characters, and gives the reader a place to stand, a side to pick.
* I sometimes think that "conflict" can be a misleading term. What we're looking for is tension; something to compel the reader forward through the story. Conflict in it's generally accepted use is one way to do that, but conflict comes in many forms. It can be purely internal. Such subtleties are not necessarily obvious in the simple advice that you must have "conflict in your story".
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