Indeed, if we can explain why someone acts a particular way then the action is permitted, or at least excused. The latest psychological claptrap is co-dependency. A recent Harper and Row catalogue listed eight pages of books on co-dependency alone. The reason that these psychological fads reflect the Essenes is not that they do not have value, but rather that they lose that value when they move from being descriptive to prescriptive. What they describe is often valuable.
Every relationship has elements of co-dependency about it.
Yet, this mutuality does not necessarily result in negative behavior. Moreover, knowing why something happens does not change what happens. We also admit our own responsibility for our own actions, and can no longer blame them on others. The fact of the matter is we need to consciously return to the best of the pharisaic tradition which not only stressed God's activity in life but constantly sought to reinterpret life in a Godly manner. For more information contact The Ecumenical Institute for Jewish-Christian Studies .