Edit: Thanks so much for the answers already. Can you focus a bit more on the difference US/Europe? I now really feel it’s twisted - Evangelicals are mor radical than Catholics in the US and Catholics being more radical in Europe
All I hear from evangelicals in the US is that they are super radical. Here in central Europe, we are divided between Catholics and Protestants (evangelic). The catholics are usually seen as much more conservative than protestants, regarding marriage of pastors, LGBTQ etc. The protestants here (I was baptized as one but left the church later) are pretty chill with all that.
So my question is: How do European Protestants and US evangelicals differ? Are the evangelicals really more radical than US catholics, or are they just the majority? Do temperate Christians exist in the US?
US Evangelicals at this point are one big core group with specific branding and associations that uses the mass of people that go to their churches as a financial and political machine, which their leadership wields to their personal benefit. Anyone outside of the mega-church group are marginalized, with some smaller churches on the fringes.
With the larger group and brand, the Bible means nothing beyond cherry-picking verses to make any point you want. No learning is needed, and everything is how you feel (how the Spirit moves you!) as long as it agrees with what the church says and you tithe. These people would appear as downright heretics to any Christian from the 1800s or before, and have more in common with the Pharisees that Jesus went to Old Timey Israel to call out for being dicks than Jesus himself. Prosperity Gospel, the idea that Jesus gives one money and power if they want it bad enough (entirely heretical), is a big deal for American Evangelicals, as is making a big show of sermons and prayer, something Jesus said was wrong.
It’s entirely about money and politics, selling books and media, making people feel like they belong, and wrapping people and their families up in the brand, making other denominations out to be not even Christian, so if you leave the church you’re abandoned. I’ve had Evangelicals tell me that Catholics and Orthodox denominations aren’t Christian at all, and that the Pope has Satanic symbols on his hat. Seriously. Conspiracy theories abound and nothing is done to discourage them, which is why the Evangelicals won’t turn away Creationist types, but typically don’t confirm that either way. Very little is actually pinned down in terms of religious beliefs, unless it’s something that is a political policy matter.
Since everything comes down to national-level politics and the whims of your local pastor, who often has a high school education at best, sermons can swing wildly around any topic, contradict each other, and provide zero real insight about the Bible or their religion. They’re entertainment the same way that Fox News is opinion-entertainment (so says Fox News in court documents to avoid lawsuits). Leaving space for people with mental health issues, corruption, schemers, idiots, and general human slime to prey upon the church. And it’s a constant parade of those types, pushing people to go out and say and do anything they feel like, and which usually pushes along the financial and political machine.