I understand where you're coming from - it is advertised as the 'view layer'. But I think that templates are more similar to the native browser language - html, so it is easier to grasp. It is also simpler and easier to implement than a js+jsx parser.

Nobody does react without jsx because it is the worst of both worlds, but if React had template strings (not necessarily built-in but at least as a first-party plugin) it would be a more viable option.