Some absolutely went the NGO route, others like Silva Beriusvomi went political, he later became Italian PM. But it's not as if there is purity of morals and ethics in official masonry either, there never is in any secret society, especially in the very high degrees. The Amti-masonic party was a substantial political party in the early decades of the 19th century.

”The very word “secrecy” is repugnant in a free and open society; and we are as a people inherently and historically opposed to secret societies, to secret oaths and to secret proceedings. We decided long ago that the dangers of excessive and unwarranted concealment of pertinent facts far outweighed the dangers which are cited to justify it. - JFK