I don't get it either. I do backend mostly, but my main differentiator isn't even functional vs. imperative, it's typed vs. untyped. As much as this take is going to make half of HN throw up, I'll take Java over Clojure any day, and Java doesn't even have a good type system to begin with.

I could see myself being very productive with lisps for small, plumbing-type stuff that you would use Python or Perl for, but in that area the foremost priority is libraries and the ecosystem, and Python isn't going to lose to any lisp in that department, even though I'm not a fan of the core language.