The "write-only" riff generally means the speaker doesn't know how to read perl, let alone write it. The disproof is the speed with which even really awful perl is read, the intent understood, and errors fixed here at perlmonks.

You can answer the second by saying that Perl has Complex data structures, too. That argument sounds to me like a covert objection to the possibility of writing non-OO structures. That one guy hasn't read any perl.

Mention PDL when the all-hash and speed issues come up. You'd better have a demo ready.

Every language bigot has pat putdowns he has never really investigated. Lispers think everything is a linked list. C coders think everything is a positional array in memory. Javanistas think everything is a magical object. Feel free to make some up for yourself.

Understand, though, that you won't change any minds. If you want to do advocacy, look around for "effective advocacy". It doesn't involve trading insults. If you want to write code, just do it and don't worry about those guys. The proof is in the results.