I don't believe I've given out a bad rep. If I have something to say to a poster, I say it in a thread.
Yeah, I'd rather just put the person on Ignore if I feel like neg repping them.
And even then, I've only ever Ignored 2 posters on TOL.
Pro: It's not the "Christian" forum I first encountered when initially searching for an online hangout.
That place was a monstrosity of fundamentalist conservativism, with mods editing posts WITHOUT WARNING OR CONSENT if they felt you'd said something too "liberal".
No atheists/nonChristians allowed, either.
Needless to say the discussions never left the comfort zones of anyone on the site, and no one had to deal with hard topics posted by people with differing opinions.
...some of you might want to visit, so feel free to PM for the URL.
Cons: The insults can get pretty heavy, and I don't take online discussion seriously enough to return fire most the time.