A generalization of multiple groups of Protestant Christianity . It's not actually a denomination, but a category that churches of many denominations fall under, ranging from some baptist churches in the south to non-denominational churches in the north and along the coastline . Using that criteria, the majority of protestant Christians in the US probably fall under the " Evangelical " category. Despite popular belief, they are real, tangible people, who are just as capable of being discriminated against as the people who they are frequently (and usually, falsely) accused of being discriminated against. An Evangelical Christian is best characterized as someone who wants to spread the Gospel of Christ by being living examples to the people around them. Real Evangelicals do not believe in forcing people who are not Christians to act like Christians, because they believe that Christ his followers to only come of their own free will.Evangelical Christians should NOT be confused with "fundamentalists," a term that has come to mean someone who is far more mental than fun. Evangelicals tend to believe in more literal interpretations of the bible, but that does not mean that they are against scientific study or using critical thinking (after all, how can you understand how the Bible applies to your life without critical thinking?). Also, they do not want religion to control the government, because as Martin Luther figured out during the dark ages, religion controlling government is actually a cheap disguise for the government controlling religion. True Evangelicals want freedom of religion, and that includes the freedom to share the gospel with others.Evangelical Christians are a large, and unfortunately, misunderstood part of the global population. They are constantly stereotyped as being hateful, bigoted people, even though many of them have done many great works for bringing rights to people and sending help to places. Evangelicals want to change their communities for the better by changing the people, one person at a time. Maybe if people came to realize that the large majority of Evangelical Christians are actually legitimately nice people who enjoy life and are happy to share their happiness with others, they'd realize that the mainstream perception of " evangelical " is merely an aggressively propagated stereotype that aims to strip Christians of their legitimacy as human beings.