I'm starting to take this particular criticism as a major compliment to Scala. Scala makes it really easy to get stuff done and you're not forced to write functional solutions to imperative problems.
Also, I learned more from functional programming in Scala than I did when learning about Lisp. For one, Scala's default data structures are persistent and immutable, whereas the Lisp ones are mutable. Scala's library also operates better on abstract data types, whereas most functions in traditional Lisps operate on concrete data types, making Scala again more functional.
"Even Lisps are built on some primitive things, and those primitive data structures in traditional Lisps are mutable. I wanted the core data structures of Clojure to be immutable. In addition, I wanted the core algorithms to be based upon abstractions rather than concrete data structures as in traditional Lisps. These are things that can't be retrofitted in a compatible way."
Also, I learned more from functional programming in Scala than I did when learning about Lisp. For one, Scala's default data structures are persistent and immutable, whereas the Lisp ones are mutable. Scala's library also operates better on abstract data types, whereas most functions in traditional Lisps operate on concrete data types, making Scala again more functional.
The above two points, by the way, highlight two major problems Rich Hickey had with traditional Lisps and therefore why he decided to write Clojure. See http://www.simple-talk.com/opinion/geek-of-the-week/rich-hic....
"Even Lisps are built on some primitive things, and those primitive data structures in traditional Lisps are mutable. I wanted the core data structures of Clojure to be immutable. In addition, I wanted the core algorithms to be based upon abstractions rather than concrete data structures as in traditional Lisps. These are things that can't be retrofitted in a compatible way."