I am one of those javascript guys who happens to hate Java. My first approach to programming was through video game programming on a language that mixed C and pascal. After that I have programmed in C, C++, php, python, javascript, bash, ClojureScript, Haskell and of course Java, and it happens that there is no language that I hate most than Java . My problem is not with the JVM at all, and I don’t think any smart person has anything against it neither, it’s an impressive piece of machinery. The problem (and makes sense, of course) is that everything related to the JVM involves in some way or another Java, which is the bad part: unless you are an end-user you will have to write or read some Java. I was first attracted to Clojure by the idea of writing code for the two mainstream virtual machines of nowadays, but after developing some toy projects with it I came to the conclusion that you need to know the host language very well to be able to use it. This is true for me in the case of javascript, but it will never be for Java. In fact being able of writing stuff that will run on the JVM without writing any Java was one of the main selling points, but seems to be impossible. That leaves me with ClojureScript alone, so I think that finding motivation to stick with Clojure even if your are not going to target te JVM is important for many people.
I have to admit that the weird syntax was also attractive to me, but I don’t think we can shell this to many people 
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