For the record, though, no one who gives a downvote should ever feel obligated to reply. Writing out a thoughtful, supported disagreement to something takes work, and often the effort required exceeds what anyone might want to expend.

This is especially true if a comment feels like it's especially bad-faith-y (though I'm not saying that's the case for your comment).

Your comments don't "deserve" anything. You've decided to spend your time making a point on a random web forum, and that's your choice to make. But you do not get to decide that others are required to spend that time as well when agreeing or disagreeing with your words, regardless of whether or not they've used their voting privileges, in either direction.