Is God Necessary for Morality?

If you are finding Plato's Euthyphro--and the challenge that Socrates poses to religious believers--to be somewhat challenging and confusing, the following video should help you clarify some of the core concepts involved, and it should also give you an idea of how philosophers debate with each other without their disagreements having to end up in shouting matches :)

William Lane Craig, philosopher and Christian apologist, argues that an objective morality can only make sense in the context of God, and that any naturalistic, materialistic, atheistic worldview is ultimately inconsistent with a morality universally binding on everyone.

On the other side, Dr. Louise Antony argues that even if God existed, God could not possibly be the source of any morality worth having, and that if God were morally good, it would have to be for secular, and not for religious reasons. Both points are the logical implications implications of the Euthyphro dilemma.

Whatever side of the issue you stand on, you are sure to be stimulated.

Craig's attempt to show the Euthyphro dilemma is a false dilemma, some have argued, only moves the problem one step back... to exactly the same problem, as this hilarious/brilliant cartoon demonstrates:

You might also want to check out a debate between Richard Dawkins and Alister McGrath, or between Alister McGrath and Christopher Hitchens on similar topics.