My BP is very tame but he insists on acting like I'm going to eat him whenever I take him out of his tank. I know he knows better but I've just come to think of him as hopelessly paranoid.

You know, I have very little real experience to back what I say up so take it or leave it....

I'm kind of on the fence with the "leave them alone and let them relax" vs. "keep up regular contact to tame and desensitize them" issue. I'm sure there is some good middle ground but when it boils down to it I'm pretty a fan of the latter. For my snake, most handling recommendations are absurdly conservative. Also, my opinion is that leaving the snake alone and undisturbed while dutifully dropping mice in once a week is simply a way to raise an un-tame, ungrateful dependent. If taming your snake by regular contact does not work then I don't think anything will. BUT, if you don't tame your snake by regular contact I do think that you may risk getting poor results out of a potentially good pet.

Also, do not underestimate the intelligence of your snake. Mine knows who I am and when I'm going to pick him up. Depending on the situation he will make it clear to me how he feels about it:

1) Not interested/leave me alone. He's in this mode post-feed, pre-potty, pre-shed, or when he's just not happy. This is demonstrated by general reclusiveness, flopping when picked up, and immediate and relentless fidgeting while being held. If I put him down on the bed he will not explore but instead crawl into the bedding and hide. When I go to pick him back up he'll try flopping or slithering away as well as trying to hook himself on something. (Flopping is my term for being very loose and uncooperative. Imagine the difference between picking up an unconcious person and a concious one.) However, I must say that I'll give him a little break when he's like this but unless he's just eaten or is in-blue I still make him put up with a little handling daily.

2) Be very very quiet I'm hunting wabbits... This is his more active self close to feeding day. This is kind of like 1 except he usually initiates by trying to get out of the case. He does not fight being picked up and if put him down he'll start surverying the room intently instead of hiding.

3) Chillin These are the in between days when he's very cooperative and not very motivated.

Sounds like you're getting a whole lot of #1. I would say you should not let up but at the same time make sure you are not terrifying your snake so much that it is not actually learning that you are, indeed, not going to eat it (yet....bwahahhaha). Other than that I must say that I have had pets that just aren't right and can never be reached. Like people, once in a while one pops out that is frickin' crazy. How you handle that case personal matter.

Best of luck to you.