There is a really good piece on why Evangelical Christianity remains appealing in Athens & Jerusalem, a relatively new blog: <link>.

A few comments about some of the fine points you've made above. First, Evangelicals push their beliefs so stridently because they firmly believe that the souls of others will perish if they don't one day submit to Jesus. Whether Jesus is God, or whether one needs to believe in Jesus in order to know God, are two questions that need not be answered to comprehend why Evangelicals are so hell bent (no pun intended) on converting others.

Second, although I understand why you believe that Evangelicals may be poster-children for repressive government regulation (e.g., your example about initiatives to control alcohol distribution). But please keep in mind that the urge to turn to government regulation to solve moral and social ills is not one over which Evangelical Christianity - or any religious tradition, really - has a monopoly. All sorts of special interest groups, secular and religious alike, have at one time and another flirted with the dangerous idea that the government should enforce a wide range of moral and ethical norms.