...the occult dependency is often replaced with fundamentalist Protestant Christianity, of the Southern Evangelical variety.

Historically, this may be explained by the 17th Century British settlement of North America by Puritans, Dissenters and other wackofundo religious fanatics. These people were no longer welcome in Britain, so they came here. We, of course, are taught in school that these early colonists came here seeking religious freedom, but if you actually study these groups, they actually came here to start colonies where they would be able to deny religious freedom to everyone else.

So the question of whether fundowacko religiosity leads to fascism, or if its the other way round is not clear, although it does appear to be a moot point. North America's first settlers were not only religious fanatics and political discontents, they were also get rich quick opportunists ready to steal native land and then bring slave labor to work it. The historical antecedents may not be obvious today, but they can still be traced. The link between authoritarian politics, religious superstition and raw unbridled predatory capitalism survives to this day.

Perhaps Spanish Catholicism explains why this didn't happen in the European Colonies of Central and South America, where there was no shortage of native exploitation or religious fanaticism. The only question is, why didn't we see the same pattern develop in Canada? Could it be the French influence?