“In a statement released by the band, announcing the name change, the band mention that their use of the word has been ‘disrespectful and irresponsible’, and apologise for any offense the band has caused.”
Question: when have you ever seen any pop culture apologize for any offense to Christianity or any other religion?
Second question: why do you think Andrew Jackson Jihad — uh, AJJ — has so much “respect” for Islam? Because they see the way the wind is blowing, and they have a lot of respect for a gun. It is easy for cowards to “respect” those who will kill you if you refuse to bow to them.
“Andrew Jackson Jihad Change Their Name Out of Respect for Islam,” by Morgan Roberts, Cultured Vultures, February 25, 2016:
Folk-punk five piece Andrew Jackson Jihad, or the folk-punk five piece formerly known as Andrew Jackson Jihad, have been knocking about now for a strong dozen years. In their time together the band have garnered themselves quite a cult following, on account of their just dab handedness with rustling up a raucous bit of folk-punk with infectious energy and some damn good melody.
Perhaps greater still a reason for the band’s dedicated following is their lyrical themes of social anxiety, existentialism, poverty, politics, religion, and humanity as a whole; subjects that listeners can really get emotionally invested in. Then again, it might be on account of their just being bloody nice blokes all round. Maybe it’s a combination of all of the above, whatever, it’s not important.
The point is they have a dedicated following, a dedicated following who are going to have to get used to their favourite going by a new name. That new name being AJJ. Admittedly, it’s not a drastically different name, given that it’s an abbreviation, and it’s one that many fans have often affectionately (or lazily) already referred to them as anyhow.
The name change in itself, whilst maintaining a sense of familiarity, seems to mainly stem from the band wanting to distance themselves from a possibly perceived sentiment or otherwise the potential connotations of the name – specifically relating to the use of the Islamic term ‘jihad’. In a statement released by the band, announcing the name change, the band mention that their use of the word has been ‘disrespectful and irresponsible’, and apologise for any offense the band has caused.
It would seem then that the name changes stems from the band’s political consciousness, coming into play with the lyrical familiarity and fixation on the topic of religion. Perhaps the fact their bloody nice blokes too. However, it is unusual that the band are making this change 12 years down the line, mentioning as they do that it has been brought up as an issue to them many times along the way, and it’s for this reason that the decision is likely to have your reactionary sorts up in arms. Because Islam. Because political correctness gone mad….
And this is “reactionary” because…?