"closures provide better scoping flexibility than classes. Languages that have these features make it obvious how restrictive C++ is in binding this functionality in with the type system."C++ can/does do anonymous functions (for example, see boost lambda), and can even give you most of what you want from first-class functions and closures (using functors). The parts that you don't get are due mostly to the fact that C++ doesn't have built-in garbage collection. It's a speed limitation, not a type-safety limitation.
Now for my rant: there seems to be a backlash against type safety in this forum that I don't understand. Granted, if all you ever do is develop dinky webapps with your best friends, permissive languages allow for rapid development (mostly because they let you get away with murder). However, once you have more than a few developers and a few tens of thousand lines of code, the benefits of strict typing become rapidly apparent. The chaotic, free-for-all mentality of languages like Ruby is great for rapid prototyping, but it kinda sucks for developing in more formal scenarios.
It may be "harder" to develop with strongly typed languages, but that's usually an indication that you're having to think a bit before you act. That's rarely a bad thing!