A backup script using rsync and etckeeper, written in bash.

backup.sh

#!/bin/bash
# Backs stuff up. This script uses rsync to back stuff up to the backup drive. It
# is *not* version control, so it only has a single copy of the tree; this increases
# speed and keeps the file IO time to a minimum.
# !!!
# THIS SCRIPT CAN AND WILL DELETE THINGS FROM THE DESTINATION.
# !!!
# To pass in a non-standard source and destination, run this script like so:
#    backup.sh <SRC> <DEST>
#
#This script is based off of answers from help forums on the internet where indicated.

#This is our ignore list. It is quite extensive, and is based off of the wonderfully
# informative answer [here](http://askubuntu.com/questions/40992/what-files-and-directories-can-be-excluded-from-a-backup-of-the-home-directory)
IGNORELIST="$HOME/usr/bin/.backupIgnoreList"

#Our source and destination directories
if [[ $# -ne 2 ]]; then
    SRC=/home/
    DEST=/backup/home/
else
    SRC=$1
    DEST=$2
fi

#Check if our Effective User ID is root; if it's not, we will need to use sudo later
# in our script.
if [[ $EUID -ne 0 ]]; then
    USERISROOT=1
else
    USERISROOT=0
fi

#Checks a return status for errors. This function runs all it's arguments, and "throws"
# an error if the function fails, halting execution of the script.
function runErrorCheck {
    #Expand and run all the arguments - this means that we run the command passed to us.
    "$@"
    ERROR="$?"
    if [[ $ERROR -ne 0 ]]; then
        if [[ $ERROR -ne 32 ]]; then #32 == Already mounted (likely)
            echo -e "$0 failed\nFix the errors, and try again"
            exit $ERROR
        fi
    fi
}

#Mount the backup drive and cd to it. Both actions could produce errors if the drive
# is not present, or if the mount has incorrect permissions, so they are passed to
# runErrorCheck, which will run the commands, checking for errors. As the name suggests.
runErrorCheck mount /backup
runErrorCheck cd /backup

#If we aren't root, use sudo(8) to run our root commands
#Copy everything to the backup; this copy uses a delta-algorithm to minimize file
# transfers. Options: --Archive(all except Hardlinks) --verbose --human-readable
# show progress, delete files in dest not in src, print file algorithm statistics
# ignore all the things in IGNORELIST.
# Based on [this](https://ask.fedoraproject.org/en/question/27563/recommended-way-to-backup-computer-before-upgrade/?answer=27579#post-id-27579).
# After rsync copies everything, we use etckeeper to update the backup copy of our
# /etc directory. etckeeper.conf sets up a post-commit hook to push the repository
# to the repository on the backup drive, so we don't have to do anything with it.
if [[ $USERISROOT ]]; then #WE ARE (EFFECTIVELY) ROOT YAY!
    rsync -avh --progress --delete --stats --exclude-from="$IGNORELIST" "$SRC" "$DEST"
    cd /etc
    etckeeper commit
else #WE'RE NOT ROOT-LIKE :(
    sudo rsync -avh --progress --delete --stats --exclude-from="IGNORELIST" "$SRC" "$DEST"
    sudo cd /etc
    sudo etckeeper commit
fi

It seems that you missed a '$' at line 68 at the --exclude-from parameter.