I don't think it's a stretch to argue that Christianity is imperialistic, and by extension Christian missionaries are de facto agents of imperialism. However, I think it's a stretch to argue that Perl is imperialistic. :)

It's fascinating to learn that Larry Wall might have become a missionary had his life gone a different direction, but I don't think one can make a compelling case that Wall's religiosity had a major effect on Perl's language design. Don Knuth is a devout Lutheran who played church organ, taught Sunday school, and wrote a book about the Bible -- but it just doesn't seem likely we should be concerned that typesetting our work with TeX subtly infuses it with Christian apologia.