The winter riots across Europe over the Danish cartoon depicting the prophet Muhammad were not the result of the actual depiction, an author said Thursday night at a keynote address celebrating First Amendment Day at Iowa State.

Reza Aslan, author of “No god but God: The Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam,” spoke to more than 300 people in the Great Hall of the Memorial Union, addressing an issue of ethical concern around world.

Islamic tradition discourages figurative depictions of Allah or Muhammad, but Aslan said the real concern over the controversial cartoon, published in September in Jyllands-Posten, was the stereotype it furthered of Muslim faith.

“Muslim anger over the cartoon is not over the depiction of Muhammad, it is the promotion of negative stereotypes of Muslims,” he said.

Cartoonists, as well as journalists, have a civic responsibility to foster constructive discussion, he said. The cartoons fueled the long-standing tensions in Europe, rather than helping them. The cartoon riots were just a way to “vent” the frustrations felt over those tensions, Aslan said.

Aslan said he would never take away cartoonists’ right to draw what they do, but he said freedom of the press “must be appropriately balanced with civic responsibility.”

Barbara Mack, associate professor of journalism and communication, and Brian Duffy, Des Moines Register editorial cartoonist spoke in a panel discussion with Aslan.

“It’s intriguing to me to note that we as human beings feel the overwhelming need to segregate one another, and to demonize the other,” Mack said.

She said since images have become so powerful, cartoons carry great weight.

“These cartoons failed to get an identifiable message across, and at the same time, unnecessarily hurt a group of people,” she said.

Duffy said the message is one of the most important things he considers when crafting a cartoon.

“If [the message] is so off-putting that it stops the reader right there, it is not a very good cartoon,” he said.

Sade Carpenter, sophomore in pre-journalism and mass communication, said people should be aware of what offends others.

“At times, we don’t find it is offensive ourselves, but when you see it is offensive to others, you see there is a problem,” she said.