THE BELIEVER'S FAITH DIVERSION PARADOX (BFDP)

This paper proposes the Believer's Faith Diversion Paradox (BFDP), a primary-case framework for examining a specific form of evaluative asymmetry: an evaluating subject applies a criterion to an external target but does not apply the same criterion, where relevant and applicable, to its own position or evaluative process at the corresponding meta-level.The paper distinguishes criterion availability, external application, the possibility of self-application, actual self-application, and resulting asymmetry. This separation is intended to prevent capability, operation, and outcome from being treated as interchangeable constructs.The paper then proposes the Meta-Level Self-Application Divergence Principle (MSADP) as a domain-neutral abstraction of the BFDP mechanism. A formal schema represents the evaluator, criterion, external target, self-target, application operation, and contextual applicability conditions. A conditional divergence measure is introduced only for cases in which the outputs are meaningfully comparable. The framework distinguishes self-application failure from legitimate differences in scope, evidence, or applicability; it also separates object-level evaluation from self-application and criterion reflection. Eight analytical layers, ten boundary-case categories, and a research protocol are specified. The resulting contribution is a structured, falsifiable proposal rather than a demonstrated universal law. Its value depends on whether operational definitions can reliably distinguish the proposed mechanism from related constructs such as double standards, confirmation bias, motivated reasoning, and the bias blind spot.