Ines You haven't seen some fundamentalist North American Catholics. I do have some of these in my family. I did have the privilege to act as their personal driver around Europe when I was a young student.
One on my fondest memory is my ground mother (which I was driving to "old friends") entertaining me with a private inquisition on the critical question why that crucifix had disappeared from my room since her last visit. 4 hours basically uninterrupted monologue about my soul. Till I was able to deliver to her friends and hide with my parents more secular friends. Shudder.
(Did I mention that in her case, my father explicitly forbade to ever explain to her about the EU and EU citizenship, just to make sure that his mother always thought that she is limited to staying 3 months in Europe on a tourist visa. He literally feared that she might learn how her dual citizenship might allow her to stay anywhere in the EU for unlimited times, just by showing the other passport at the airport. Funny how the mighty elephant fears the tiny mouse.)
So yes, North America seems to have something in the air, that brings out fundamentalism in humans.