Actually research has shown that it does make a difference: [Why complicate things?: introducing programming in high school using Python](http://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=1151880)

They found that students who were taught Python instead of Java scored higher on their tests. Languages like Python and Ruby make it far easier for people to jump straight into the code. If I'm learning about linked lists why do I need this main method? Ruby and Python have lots of abstractions which make it easier for someone learning to be able to focus on the problem at hand.