Perhaps you have experienced a similar ad hominem attack as I have when simply stating or defending the very simple dogma on marriage that has been held by Catholics everywhere and always (at least before the gnostic oracle of Cardinal Kasper came on the scene). Marriage is the union between one man and one woman which bond is broken only by the death of one of the spouses. Our grandparents would have considered inconceivable that such a simple and basic statement could become the source of ridicule and persecution by fellow Catholics. Yet, utter this truth today and you are likely to be confronted with something like the following: “You are being like the Pharisees. Christ came to bring mercy and the Pharisees stubbornly held on to the letter of the law rather than embracing Christ’s new spirit of mercy. Like the Pharisees of old you obstinately are refusing the law of mercy Pope Francis seeks to promote.”In reaction to the shocking mid-Synod report, Maria Madise, coordinator of Voice of the Family notes the same line of attack: “The Synod’s mid-way report will increase the incidence of faithful Catholics being labelled as ‘Pharisees’, simply for upholding Catholic teaching on sexual purity.” Like much of the pseudo-historical drivel being doctored up to support the jettisoning of natural and divine law (See Roberto de Mattei’s article on the abuse of the Council of Trent for an example http://rorate-caeli.blogspot.com/2014/10/synod-and-truth-or-how-holy-see-journal.html), such an attack completely misrepresents the real dispute between Our Lord and the Pharisees.
Francis and Kasper: The Modern Pharisees