I wouldn't say I was "forced" to use JSX. I started out building React using only JavaScript notation to build the DOM (React.DOM.div, et al.) because I told myself that XML formatted text doesn't belong in my JavaScript. I then started to use JSX. It's a beautiful thing to get into if you give it more than a cursory glance. For one, readability is incredibly better with JSX and passing data becomes less of a chore.