I think that it has nothing whatever to do with religion. "Tim Toady" is the best antidote to "groupthink," which is common in other programming circles. Where only one approach – or sometimes, "pattern" – is deemed to be "the One Right Way," even when it doesn't fit the project or the business. Many of Perl's best and most-unique features, such as Moose and its many variants, didn't come from any central "language committee," but from the community itself, when various people sought – and created, then shared – "another way to do it." Because of this, Perl doesn't need religion (even though it does need Monks). It's one helluva tool.