Yeah, that's why I called it "what they used to call functional programming". Functions are first-class values and closures are easy to get at. (Some people quibble with the exact implementation, but they are definitely there. Such people will be happier with Python 3.0, but still not entirely satisfied.) This is what "functional programming" used to mean.

Now it means having immutable values, tail recursion, easy lambdas, powerful type systems, and so on. There's a clear historical progression from past to present, but there's still been changes in what the term means over time which means that different people mean different things by "functional programming" if they don't clarify.