> ...  I feel is correct as footpaths are provided only for pedestrians to access and use. I have not encountered a single source of OSM orthodoxy agreed by everyone specifying only one way to do everything to which everyone must comply. It seems we must agree to disagree on this. 

No, we can discuss it together, and https://community.openstreetmap.org/t/access-no-foot-designated-on-highway-footway-should-it-be-reverted/101907 would be a great place to do that.  The way that you are tagging things is very unusual, but not unheard of in OSM.