Personally I learned that if NJ is banned, then the 2-liner/3-liner would need to be banned at the same time.
Other than that, I enjoyed opponents having to actually win 4 LSs in battle.
On your first thought, I've never liked the 2/3 Liners, and think that Redemption would only be better off if they were gone.
On your second thought, I completely agree. It felt nice knowing that your opponent could get to 3 and it wasn't GG. Also, it made for more battles, which is always good for the game.
It's hard to support a NJ ban when there is another dominant that begs the banhammer so much more... That being Mayhem.
Personally, I'd really like to play some Redemption games with no dominants or 2/3 Liners. Maybe play to 4 redeemed souls, and have good/evil cards equal.