Zend Action viewRenderer() is POST-ing my form

Zend Action viewRenderer() is POST-ing my form

I am trying to send a parameter from the indexAction to the editAction
using the viewRender function. The problem is when the editAction is
called it causes my $form to think it has been posted.
public funciton indexAction(){
...
if(isset($_POST['edit'])){
$this->_helper->viewRenderer('edit');
$this->editAction($thingINeed);
}
...
}
public function editAction($thingINeed){
...
if($form->posted){
var_dump('FORM POSTED');
}
...
}
"FORM POSTED" is printed immediately even though I have not posted the
form yet. I'm not sure why the form $form->posted is set to true on the
initial render. Does anyone have an idea of why this is or a work around?