How do you know snakes can't love or hate? Have you ever been given the super human talent of feeling what other creatures experience?
I believe they do "feel" ... hell, i have one bp that's ticked off all the time and hisses any time i stick my hand in the tank and who strikes the glass when i walk by and another who while very young, escaped his tank (my own fault) and after hours of looking everywhere, i flop on my bed to cry and feel something under my pillow, turns out my escape artist turned up in my pillow case ... not my husbands, or in a nice warm spot.
He knows I'm the one who rubs my nails gently down his back - he arches himself so that i don't lose contact all the way to the tail. I drop the mice in his tank. I made him feel better when he had mites.
Maybe a snake loves (respects, admires, is thankful for) their owner if they are treated right (and I choose to believe this), but any creature who is cared for by another recgonizes the caretaker and will usually respond with an affectionate demeanor.
Cobra's will spit aiming at the eyes of what it feels to be it's enemy (it's a snake, how does it know to spit towards the eyes? It's not human but knows what to do to us to disable us quickly).
If a snake can instinctively know how to harm us, don't you think that if we respect them for what they are and provide them with all their necessities they just might develop a respect (or dare i say a love) for us?