My Answer to the Euthyphro Problem

This evening, I watched a video about the Divine Command Theory, which is defined as "The belief that what's moral, and what is immoral -- is commanded by the divine." God and philosophy don't always get along, partly because philosophy keeps finding problems with God's existence and the idea that we should listen to Him. One problem philosophy has with the Divine Command Theory is called "The Euthyphro Problem," named after the man to whom Socrates was speaking when he brought it up. Euthyphro believed in the Divine Command Theory, believing that everything we need to know about what's right and wrong, we can learn from God, but Socrates asked Euthyphro two questions which some philosophers believe that we have not yet adequately answered:

Are right actions right because God commands them?

Or

Are right actions commanded by God because they are right?

The narrator of the video briefly described the meaning and implications of each possibility, describing it as quite possibly being a true dilemma, with each option having their downsides. Personally, I find the latter option far more palatable than the former.

I would go into detail, but it's late, and I'm tired, and I don't want to try to explain my position only to end up doing so badly. Suffice it to say that I believe that there are absolute moral laws and that God's laws merely describe those absolute laws, not determine them. Of course, other people have their own answers to this dilemma, and their beliefs may certainly differ from mine, but I personally believe that the second option is the more correct one. Actions don't become morally right just because God commands them; God commands us to perform those actions because those actions are morally right.